Courage To Change The Things You Can
by KievaLynn
Summary: Self-Insert. Prequel to my one shot story "Stranger Highways." My O/C's first trip to Gaia, and his relationship with Aeris. Pairings: Aeris/O.C. and Cloud/Tifa Read and Review!Update! Chapter 37: "In The End Is The Beginning"
1. Hurry Boy, She's Waiting There For You

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy, Green Lantern, or any of the characters or concepts from such. This is a work of fan fiction.

Introductory Author's Notes:

This is a prequel to my one-shot story "Stranger Highways." It conveys the story of 'Christian's' first journey to Gaia, his trip from Midgar to the Forgotten Capitol with the Avalanche team, and the growth of his relationship with Aeris, including how she learned the truth of where he came from.

Please note that this story is very slightly AU to the original game, primarily in regard to the dynamics of a couple of interpersonal relationships. The story is almost totally AU to Crisis Core, the only aspect of CC's story I've included is the idea that Aeris met Zach in exactly the same way she met Cloud, i.e. falling through the church roof.

Fair warning to Clerith fans, you will probably be disappointed here. The AU dynamic mentioned above includes the idea that in this world the two are fast becoming friends but she has no romantic attraction to him at all. The explanation for this difference will be given in chapter three.

Finally, the mention of Green Lantern in the disclaimer comes from a single GL related character, the Guardian Ganthet, who plays a small but important role in the story. There will be no other Guardians, and no ring-bearers in this tale.

"Courage To Change The Things You Can"

Chapter One: 'Hurry Boy, She's Waiting There For You'

Many of you may have read my previous journal, which I titled 'Stranger Highways.' For those of you who haven't, I will only say here that in order to keep my family safe I will not be using my real name in this or any other journal. For the purposes of these records, I'll be using the pseudonym "Christian." Before you can ask the obvious question of why I'm even bothering to write these records out if I'm concerned, well, the story _needs_ to be told. It's that simple.

Anyway, when I sat down at my computer today to start writing I had originally intended to write about the next chapter, that is to say the events which occurred in the weeks following my own little miracle. I realized, though, that my tale wouldn't be complete unless I first went back and told you about how it had all started. Of course, as those who've read 'Highways' will recall, that's problematic since my memory of those events is very fragmented for some reason.

So, here's what I'm going to do: The majority of this tale will be told from my own point of view, as based on what little I remember myself, augmented with what Aeris has reminded me of. She's actually been a godsend in recovering my memory. More often than not, I do remember again after she's reminded me. For things I don't recall myself, and a few events I wasn't present for, I'll switch to a third-person perspective of Aeris or whoever told me about it. These breaks will be clearly marked, so I shouldn't cause too much confusion.

So, whereas my first journal started with me on my way to work one evening, this one starts early one morning when I was getting ready to go home. It was mid-winter in the Midwest, still dark out, and a thin layer of snow covered the ground. I climbed into the driver's seat of my car, started the engine, and cranked the defroster up to full-blast. "This is gonna take awhile." I thought to myself, so I switched on the radio.

Now, the funny thing was, I had left the radio tuned to a local news channel. But instead of the expected gloom and doom I hear music. The tuner was now aligned on an eighties music station, and the song playing was Toto's 'Africa.' Specifically, the portion of the song where the lyrics say "He grinned at me as if to say; 'Hurry boy, she's waiting there for you…'"

I sighed. Having never been in any serious relationship despite my strong desire for such, that was kind of depressing. I wished there _was_ someone waiting. I shook my head and pressed 'seek.' Half a second later "Hurry boy, she's waiting there for you…" Odd. This is the classic jazz station. Seek. "Hurry boy…" Seek. "She's waiting…" Seek. "There…" Seek. Seek. Seek. "For you…"

"The hell?" I switched off the radio, looked and saw that the windshield still wasn't clear. I plugged in my I-pod and started it up. "Hurry boy, she's waiting there for you…"

"Oh come on! I don't even have that song on this thing!" I exclaimed, quickly unplugging the device and tossing it in the back seat. I waited in silence for the defroster to finish it's work, then drove home without further incident. Once there, I considered fixing something to eat, but found that I was unusually tired. Upstairs in my bedroom, I looked at the small television, then decided NOT to turn it on. Though I knew good and well I had left it tuned to the Discovery Channel after watching 'Mythbusters,' I also knew, deep down, that if I pushed power it would be set to VH1 Classic, with a very specific song playing.

"Oh well," I thought, "I'm too tired anyway." I fell into bed without changing clothes or even removing my boots, and was asleep in seconds…

OOOOOOO

I'm very fuzzy on what happened next, so this is somewhat conjecture. I don't remember clearly myself, and no one else I know was around to fill me in. What I do remember, is 'waking up' in what felt like a dream, but in retrospect I'm not sure it was. I think I was floating in empty space, but I was able to breathe and hear just fine. I was not alone. Also present, floating in front of me, was an odd little man. He was maybe three feet tall, balding but with a long ponytail, and dressed in a white toga. I seem to remember features suggesting extreme age, and his skin was a light blue color.

"Welcome Christian." The man said. "My name is Ganthet. We have much to discuss."

"I've got to be dreaming. This is a dream right?" I replied.

"The answer to that question depends on how far down the rabbit hole you wish to go." Ganthet said. "The short answer is yes. You are indeed still physically on your own world, in your own home and your own bed, engaged in r.e.m. sleep. So yes, it could be accurately stated that you are dreaming. But there is much more to the reality of the situation, for I am not a part of the dream. I am real, and I am contacting you with a purpose: I would make you an offer."

"I'm listening."

"What would you say if I were to tell you that there are other realities, an entire multiverse of possibilities, that actually exist running in parallel with your own?"

I think I thought for a moment before answering "I'm fine with that. They've been theorizing about the possibility for a long time you know."

Ganthet nodded. "Good. Now let me add a wrinkle your earthly scientists haven't caught onto yet: Many of these realities are known about in your world, in the form of fiction. You see, there's a lot of psionic leakage across dimensional barriers, so certain people get images of other places, mistake those for their imaginations, and create 'fiction' based upon them."

"That's… interesting." I said. "So, how far does this go? I mean, are you telling me that somewhere out there is a real world where Italian plumbers do battle with overgrown mushroom-tossing monkeys?"

"Not at all. Not all of your fiction is real. People do have genuine imagination after all. The worlds that are real are the ones that require no changes from the logical and physical laws you know, or only very slight changes from such."

"Okay, I follow you so far. But why are you telling me about this? What do you want?"

"As I said, I am here to make you an offer: There is a planet called Gaia. You will recognize it from your reality's fiction as the world which the seventh Final Fantasy game takes place on. I propose to send you there."

"That's certainly tempting." I nodded. "As I suspect you already know, I'm kind of fixated on that game. But, why are you doing this? And what good will it do? It's an old game. Even if the events from the game really happened, it's been over for years." I thought of Aeris. "It's too late for me to… well… It's too late."

"Not at all." Ganthet said. "For one thing, the psionic leakage that enabled some people here a glimpse of the events in question isn't just cross-dimensional. It is also cross-temporal. In other words, the game's makers saw the events before they actually started to happen. Of course, even with that the storyline _would_ still be over by now, if not for my own interference…"

"You lost me." I admitted.

"Apologies. I'll try to be more straightforward, but when you get to be my age you tend to ramble."

"How old are you anyway?"

"Measured in earth-years, just short of five billion."

I stared. "You don't look it."

"Thank you. But to be straightforward as promised: Jenova is a terrible threat. Quite possibly the most powerful and dangerous corporeal entity in the entire multiverse. Aware of this, and concerned, I used my powers as a Guardian to create a time-viewer and study all potential futures. What I discovered was not encouraging… Avalanche's defeat of Sephiroth is not enough. It will buy time, but Jenova yet lives and becomes a threat once more, devastating worlds throughout the multiverse, including eventually your own."

"Okay, now you're talking on a level I can follow. Where do I come into this?"

"I need your help. As I said, I studied all potential futures, and in the near infinity of possibilities I saw one, and _only_ one, future which if it comes to pass, will eliminate the threat of Jenova once and for all. In order to bring that future into existence, you must go to Gaia, join with Avalanche… And save her life."

I was struck silent. I knew whose life Ganthet was asking me to save, there was only one possibility after all. "Wait. You said that even with the cross-time-whatsis the story would already be over by now…?"

"I said it _would_ be so if not for my interference. I am a Guardian, and I have used my power to slow the passage of time in Gaia's dimension as opposed to it's passage everywhere else. As we speak, Avalanche is just leaving Midgar, in route to Kalm." He was silent for a moment, then concluded "I need your help in this. But I cannot force you to go…"

"There's no need to force it." I said. "There's no way I'm turning down a chance like this. When do we start?"

"Right now." Ganthet answered. "I have restored the passage of time in Gaia to normal. Prepare yourself…" He raised both hands, palms towards me. Globes of glowing blue energy flowed out of Ganthet and all around me. I think I blanked out, for how long I'm not sure. All I know is that I came to somewhere else…

OOOOOOO

The next thing I knew, I was high in the air, unsupported, and falling rapidly. I let out a short scream as I realized what was happening. Half a second later, I heard the sound of a commotion and a woman's voice shouting "Watch out!" I struck the ground hard but somehow didn't entirely pass out.

All I could see at first was blackness, but I could still hear just fine. There were two female voices that sounded young talking back and forth, with an occasional comment from a male voice with a strange gurgle to it.

"Wow." The first woman's voice said. "Third time."

"This has happened before?" the male voice asked.

"Yeah, both times in my church. First Zach, then Cloud."

The second woman spoke. "Girl, if I were you I wouldn't complain about having men raining down on me."

"Oh be nice. You've got Cloud. And besides, I wasn't actually complaining, I just wish they'd miss me by a few more feet. All three of them have come within six inches of landing directly on top of my head."

"That would most likely have broken your neck."

"Thank you Red. My point exactly."

"Whatever." The second woman said. "Do you think maybe we should be casting cure on him? That was a nasty hit."

"Maybe…"

Vision began to return, though at first it was a narrow tunnel-vision effect, showing me only a tiny circle of the sky directly above. Then the tunnel opened up and I could see clearly. The first thing I saw was her. Aeris. She was apparently kneeling over me, and I liked the fact that even though she didn't know me at all she was clearly concerned. "Are you okay?"

"A…" I stopped myself short of calling her by name. "I'm fine miss. I don't suppose you could tell me what just happened?"

"I was hoping you could tell me." She said.

Being dropped into the situation in this manner, I wasn't really prepared. I didn't know what I should and shouldn't do, and needed time to think it through. Something told me, though, that I had best not actually lie. So I told the truth in a vague way. "All I know is, I was at home in bed asleep, had a funky dream about a blue midget in space, and woke up falling."

"Blue midget?" the male voice asked. I shifted my eyes towards the sound and saw why the voice had a strange quality: it was Nanaki. No, Red. I had to remember to just call him Red until Cosmo Canyon. Beside him stood the third person I had heard. Tifa.

I dimly wondered where Cloud and Barrett were, then recalled that the group had split in two for the trip to Kalm.

"Are you okay to move?" Tifa asked. "I'm not willing to leave you here alone, but we need to keep going."

"I'll be fine." I answered, and attempted to prove it by getting up. This was a mistake. The moment I actually tried to move, my head began to swim and I felt confused. "Then again…"

"I think you hit your head harder than you thought." Aeris said. "Lay still."

I wasn't in any position to argue. In fact, though I had managed to stay awake after the initial impact, moving had made things bad enough that I was fading out in a hurry. The last thing I remember is saying to Aeris "I won't let you down this time…"


	2. The Road Goes Ever On And On

Standard Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy, Green Lantern, or any of their related characters and concepts. This is a work of fan fiction.

"Courage To Change The Things You Can"

Chapter Two: The Road Goes Ever On and On (And On and On and On…)

After passing out from injuries sustained in my crash landing, I was unconscious for some time. Around five hours, according to Aeris. When I finally woke up, it was night. Stars filled the darkened sky, as a half-moon was near the western horizon. I was, actually, surprised to find that we were still in the same place I had landed. No one had made any effort to move on further. With a slight groan, I risked movement again and this time found that I was able to do so without further pain. I looked around and saw a small campfire, and a pair of sleeping bags with figures in them.

Right next to the flames was a third bag. Red sat on top of it, vigilantly watching the surrounding plains. "It's my watch." He explained when he saw I was awake. "But I'll wake Aeris up to take hers in about thirty minutes. How do you feel?"

"Much better. What did you do anyway?"

"I did nothing." Red answered. "It was the Cetra. She did something most impressive. 'Healing Wind' I believe she called it."

"Whatever it was, it worked."

"I am glad." Red replied. Then he said "Now, before my watch ends, you and I need to speak in private. I would very much like to know who you really are."

"There's really nothing special to tell."

"No? You appear out of nowhere, in the middle of nowhere, directly over the head of one of the only people in the entire region. You then proceed to come within inches of calling this person by name when you've never met her…"

"Beyond human-level intelligence." I reminded myself. "Got to be careful with this guy."

Meanwhile as I thought this Red continued "And then you meet a creature you cannot have met the likes of before, and are unsurprised by said creature speaking to you. None of this adds up."

"Fair enough." I said. "Though… Look, I'm not asking you to trust me. You can, I swear I'm on the right side of things, but I also understand that trust is earned. All I ask from you is the fair chance to earn yours."

Red offered a forepaw and it took me a moment to realize he wanted to shake on what I had just said. I did so as he said "Sensible. You know, I'm not actively suspicious of you even now. The Cetra isn't the only one with special senses, and mine are telling me that you are not an enemy. Nevertheless, I cannot be too careful."

I nodded in understanding. We sat side-by-side for some time in silence, then I had a thought about something he had said when I first woke up. I asked "Why did you make a point of telling me Aeris was the one taking the next watch?"

Red made a soft chuffling sound which I suspected was his equivalent of laughter. "Well, after what you said when you were in the process of passing out, I thought you'd want to know."

"What I said? All I remember is something about not letting someone down…"

"Oh-ho… That was the first part of it, yes. As I recall, you full statement was 'I won't let you down this time… I love you.'"

I was mortified. "Thanks a lot Ganthet." I thought. "First minutes here and I blow it just because you decided to make 'dropping' me in literal."

"Before you get too out of sorts, I should tell you she seemed more touched than embarrassed or shocked. Then again, she did say this has happened to her twice before, perhaps she's used to it by now." Red rose to all fours and shook, then said "Well, it's time for me to wake her. We can talk more in the morning if you would like."

I thought that maybe I should give some space, given what I had apparently said. So, as Red slowly ambled off towards where Aeris was sleeping, I took advantage of the opportunity to return to the blanket they had laid me in, fold it up, and move a bit further away from the encampment. There I sat, facing away and looking up at the stars. I saw no familiar constellations, further proof that I was no longer on my own world. It was perhaps ten minutes later that I heard the sound of soft footsteps on the prairie grasses behind my back.

Aeris sat down to my left, facing me. "I'm glad to see you up and about." She said. "That was really quite a knock you took."

"The… um, whatever he is… tells me my recovery is all your doing. Thanks."

"We call him Red, if he didn't tell you. I'm not sure what he is either. And you're welcome…" she leaned forward. "But, after all, I couldn't just let a guy who's professed his love die now could I?"

"Look, about that…"

"It's okay." She giggled lightly. "Do you know, you're the third man to fall from the sky on top of me? The way I see it, the world's trying to tell me something maybe."

"Oh? Like what?"

"Beats me. But my mother… my real mother and my adopted mother both, always said 'third time's a charm.' It makes me wonder…" She fell silent for several seconds, then said "There's something different about you."

"Oh?" I asked dumbly. "Different how, exactly?"

"I can't tell."

Curious, wanting to draw out whatever she was feeling, and eager to keep the conversation going, I took a small risk. "Red said you were Cetra. I've always heard that Cetra have some special powers or senses or something… Is what you feel different coming from that?"

"It might be. Honestly, I'm only half Cetra, my father was human. And since mother… I mean my real mother here… was killed when I was very young, I don't really know for sure how many of the old Cetra abilities I've inherited. Or how to use most of them."

I was surprised that she was opening up this readily. I said "Well… You seem to be on a journey somewhere. Maybe you'll find some of your answers."

She smiled warmly. "Thanks. I hope so. So… What are you planning to do? Are you gonna go to Midgar, or…?"

"Actually, I've got no idea. I'm not even sure where 'here' is compared to home." I decided this was technically true. After all, I really didn't know how to get from Gaia to Earth.

"Why don't you come with us then? I mean, at least until we reach Kalm."

"Sure." I agreed. We talked for the rest of the night, about this and that and nothing of great importance. I was surprising myself. After all, I had always been a quiet person, and if anything I would have expected to do even worse than normal with such a beautiful girl who I had wanted to meet for so long. But, there was something about her that made conversation effortless. As we talked, it dawned on me that Ganthet hadn't made a mistake by dropping me in from above in the same way Zach and Cloud had entered her life. He must have done it on purpose, and it had opened things up in a way that might not have happened otherwise. "Thank you Ganthet." I thought once again, though with a totally different sentiment this time.

As dawn began to peak over the eastern horizon, we walked back to the campsite and woke the others. Aeris and Tifa packed up their belongings (I was surprised to see an obvious detail the game left out, that each of them carried a backpack satchel,) and I helped by rolling up the bedroll Red had slept on. We ate a small breakfast of ration bars and water, and made ready to leave. Neither Tifa nor Red gave any indication of surprise that I would be coming along; either they had discussed it while I was out, or they just already knew Aeris well enough to expect her to invite me along.

Then Tifa said "Oh, by the way new guy, your stuff's over there." She pointed to a pile of items I didn't recognize. "When you came dropping out of the blue your satchel tore open and all your stuff fell out. Took us forever to find it all."

I walked over and looked down at what Tifa had indicated. There was a satchel similar to the ones she and Aeris were carrying, and propped up against it was a sword similar in style to a katana. I opened up the satchel and peaked inside: There were more ration bars, a canteen, a belt with a scabbard for the sword, several green materia crystals, and a change of clothes which I didn't recognize. It dawned on me for the first time to look myself over. The clothing I had on was not what I had been wearing when I fell into bed. Instead, I was dressed in a heavy long-sleeved light-grey jacket with a dark-grey undershirt. Grey denim cargo pants covered my legs, and rugged hiking boots were laced firmly over my feet.

"Something wrong?" Tifa asked.

I decided again to not quite lie. "Remember yesterday, before I passed out, when I told you about how I didn't know how I got here?"

"Yeah. Something about falling asleep in bed and dreaming of a blue midget?"

"Right. I've never seen any of this stuff before. Not even the clothes on my back."

"Most interesting." Red commented. "It appears your dream was more than a dream. Perhaps your mystery visitor provided you with a gift upon dropping you here."

"Considering that we're in the middle of nowhere and you're unarmed otherwise, I'd take up this gift if I were you." Tifa said.

"Agreed." I said with a nod. I removed the belt and scabbard from the bag, slipped them on, and sheathed the sword, after looking it over closely enough to determine it held four materia slots, two singles and a linked set.

Peering into the satchel, Aeris asked "Is all this materia yours? It's a very complete set of the basics."

"No… It's like everything thing else in there. I've never seen it before. Uh, actually, if you can put any of it to use feel free to help yourself. It's not like I'm likely to get much use out of it, I've never actually had the chance to use any of the stuff."

Three heads snapped around to stare at me in disbelief. "You've never used ANY materia at all?" Tifa asked.

"Most unusual." Red concurred. "But then, everything about you is most unusual."

"You can say that again." I agreed. "In any case, no I've never used it, no I don't even really know how…"

Aeris grabbed my hand in one of hers and a materia from the satchel in her other. "C'mon. Get that bag over your shoulder, I'll teach you on the way…" I secured the satchel over my shoulder and we started on our way…

OOOOOOO

At this point, I need to point out a detail that's going to become more and more important as my narrative progresses. Distances between places are much greater in the real Gaia than they are in the game version you may have played. To give an example, think of the film version of Fellowship of the Ring. Remember the scene where Gandalf leaves the ring with Frodo and goes in search of answers. Then, a little later, there's the scene where Frodo returns home from the tavern to find Gandalf there waiting for him. Now, when I first watched the film if you had asked me 'How long do you think Gandalf was gone?' I would have answered 'A few weeks." Then I read the book and found out that seventeen years separated those two scenes.

Things were similar in Gaia. Playing the game, you might think the entire trip from Midgar to the Forgotten Capitol took only a few days. In reality, with the travel times of (mostly walking) across an entire planet as big as Earth, our journey was actually just over a year in length. The walk from Midgar to Kalm alone took nearly four days. Anyway, as we walked the first day Aeris stayed by my side teaching me the hows and whys of working with materia. During our lunch rest, I practiced on the trunk of a long-dead tree with mixed results.

It was early on the morning of my second day when I got my first taste of actual fighting. We were walking and talking when suddenly the ground directly in front of us erupted in a massive explosion. Tifa turned around and I followed suite. Behind us, slowly approaching, was a strange robot that I recognized as the 'Custom Sweeper' from the game. It stopped walking and a loudspeaker popped out. "Targets identified: Avalanche members and Hojo specimens thirteen-red and two-green." It said. "Surrender."

"Two-green?" Tifa whispered.

"Must be the quack's code for me." Aeris answered.

"Surrender." The robot repeated. It then launched another spread of missiles. Tifa rushed forward to attack while Red began moving to attack from behind. I jumped to the side, pulling Aeris along with me. We landed just as the explosions erupted where we had been standing. I lifted my head and watched as Tifa reached the machine, dived underneath it, and began tearing into the unarmored underside. She managed to do some damage, but it wasn't entirely defenseless there. A pair of gripper arms unfolded and grabbed onto her shoulders, pulling her out and casting her aside.

Back on our feet, I drew my sword while Aeris began casting Bolt. I looked past the Sweeper and saw Red, in position and waiting for his shot. I rushed towards the robot just as Aeris finished the spell. A bolt of lightning tore down from the sky and struck home, causing the robot to shake and shudder as if shorting out. Red leapt onto it's back, grabbed the handle of an access panel in his mouth, and pulled back hard, popping the panel loose. The arms tried to grab him, but I jumped in and slashed at them with the blade, severing both.

Red fell back to the ground and looked right at me. "Thank you. I've opened up an access panel. Electrical attacks should be more effective now."

Aeris ran up and stood next to us as I eyed the Bolt materia in my sword. "Let's hit it together." Aeris said, and I nodded. We both began casting Bolt at the same time, and sent a pair of electrical blasts directly into the open panel. The machine fell to the ground.

"Wasn't so hard." I said.

The words were barely out of my mouth when the robot whirred back to life, aiming it's missile tubes directly at us. Before it could launch, there was a shout of "Oh just die!" and a horrendous smashing sound. I looked in awe as I realized what had happened: Tifa was back on her feet. And she had punched it. And this time it really wasn't getting back up. Ever.

"Remind me not to upset her." I whispered.

"You and me both." Aeris agreed.

OOOOOOO

On the evening of our third day's travel, we made camp at the top of a large outcropping of granite facing towards the southwest. "We'll reach Kalm mid-day tomorrow." Tifa said as she unfurled her sleeping bag.

"Sounds good to me." Aeris said with a yawn. "I've never walked this far before."

"Prepare for it to get worse." Red warned. "Kalm is quite close to Midgar compared to most distances between cities. And of course we'll probably need to pass through caves or over mountain ranges along the way as well."

Aeris grimaced. "Don't remind me." She gazed over to me. "Still wanna stick with us after hearing that?"

"I've got nowhere else to go. And at least one good reason to stay around."

Aeris blushed slightly at this, but Tifa's response was more formal. "In that case, there's something we need to discuss: You might not have realized it before, but there's no way you missed what that Shinra warmachine called us yesterday. We're Avalanche, and if you want to stay with us you'll need to join up."

I tried to keep a straight face as I asked "Is there a form to fill out or what?"

"You'll see when we get to Kalm. This'll be Barrett's decision in the end. Of course, it would help if someone like myself vouched for you to him… But I'm wondering what reason you can give me for why I should do so. What have you lost to Shinra? Or maybe Sephiroth?"

I sighed. This would be tricky. "As far as Shinra goes, I'd have to say I've not actually lost anything to them. At least not directly. Though, I'm living on this planet too, so I've got as big a stake as anyone in whether it lives or dies." Now for the underhanded part. "Sephiroth though… I prefer not to discuss the details… But I watched someone I care for die by his hand."

Tifa nodded silently. Aeris asked "Wife? Girlfriend?"

"Not exactly. I've never had either."

"I would prefer to know the details…" Tifa said. "But I can understand why you might want to keep it inside."

Red stepped forward and said "And I will understand if you are unable to vouch for Christian, given his secrecy. But, either way, I will vouch for him for whatever my word is worth."

"Me too." Aeris said quietly.

"I guess I'll make it unanimous then." Tifa sighed. "Get some sleep, I'll take the first watch."

I spread out my blanket and laid down, using my satchel as a pillow. A few moments later I heard, behind me, the sound of Aeris unrolling her own sleeping bag perhaps five feet away. I wasn't surprised, she had made her bed close to mine the previous night as well. What I _was_ having a hard time calculating was her seeming interest in getting to know me better. Wasn't she supposed to be after Cloud? I rolled over to face her.

"Tomorrow you'll get to meet the others." She said. "Let me warn you now that Barrett can be a little… intimidating. But underneath it he's a good man. I'm sure he'll give you a chance, especially with Tifa's word."

"I hope so… What about this 'Cloud' guy? Odd name."

"Odder hair." She chuckled. "G'night." She closed her eyes and I rolled back over and did the same…


	3. Kalm Before The Storm

Standard Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy, Green Lantern, or any of their related characters and concepts. This is a work of fan fiction.

"Courage To Change The Things You Can"

Chapter Three: "Kalm Before The Storm"

It was around two in the afternoon of my fourth day on Gaia when we finally crested a hill and saw Kalm in the wide valley below us. It was much larger than the game would suggest, though still a small, quiet town by any fair assessment of such. As we drew closer, I caught sight of a pair of familiar figures standing by the gate, watching us approach.

"Barrett on the left, Cloud on the right." Tifa said to me. "They've probably been here waiting a full day, given our delay waiting on you to wake up."

When she said this, it occurred to me that I had another worry. Thanks to me, the group would be a day behind schedule. What effects would this have on future events? Would we miss the Turks in the Mythril Mine? And what about Junon Harbor? We might miss the boat, or even not get there in time to save that annoying little girl. I knew I needed a way to speed things up and get us back on track.

As I was thinking, Aeris said "As late as it is, I hope Barrett decides to stay here the night before we continue. I'd welcome a real bed."

"We all would." Tifa agreed.

A few minutes later we were close enough to see Barrett and Cloud more clearly, though still out of earshot. I took a look at his spiky hair and couldn't resist something I knew I shouldn't say. "What's that yellow thing on his head?"

"His hair." Tifa answered.

"No," I argued, "I'm quite sure that's some kind of Chocobo. It seems to be nesting on top of him. Look, if you squint your eyes you can make out the beak."

"It's. His. Hair." Tifa huffed. She sped up and hurried ahead of us.

Aeris moved in close beside me, struggling to not laugh. "Boyfriend/girlfriend." She whispered. "Not that either of them will EVER admit it."

The confusion hit hard again. Were they already an item? This wasn't how things were depicted in the game. I wished Ganthet had explained things better.

We caught up with Tifa just as she reached Barrett. "It's about damn time!" he shouted. "Where have you been anyway? And who the hell is this?"

"We need to discuss that." Tifa said to him. "You two have rooms at the local inn for us right?"

"Sure." Cloud answered, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Then let's go." Tifa answered. She turned to me and said "I'm sorry, but you'll need to wait on us out here."

"Gotcha. I'll be over by the gate."

As everyone walked towards the inn, Aeris stopped long enough to say "Don't worry. He'll come around."

I waited until everyone was out of sight, then climbed to the top of the town wall and sat next to the main gate, looking out over the plains and trying to think on how best to proceed…

OOOOOOO

===Begin Third-Person P.O.V. - Aeris===

In the inn, Aeris barely had the door to the room closed when Barrett demanded answers. "Where have you three been? And who's this new guy?"

"If you'll calm down, I'll tell you." Tifa said as she sat down on the edge of a bed next to Cloud. "Two days ago he just appeared out of nowhere, falling out of the sky. Almost landed on Aeris' head." Cloud chuckled at the memory of his own experience with this but said nothing.

Aeris nodded when Barrett looked at her for confirmation. "He was hurt in the fall. I wasn't going to leave him alone, so we had to wait 'til he was ready to travel."

"Well… I guess I wouldn't wanna leave someone alone out dere either." Barrett rumbled. "But, who is the guy? He's Shinra for all we know."

"No." Aeris said.

"Now hold on." Tifa disagreed. "I don't think so either Aeris, but you can't know for sure."

"Yes I can." Aeris insisted. "I don't know where he came from… And there _is_ something I can't place that's different about him… but he's not Shinra, or anyone else we have to worry about. I feel that much."

"Is this an 'ancient' thing?" Barrett asked.

Red interrupted "I suspect it is for her. But I have the same feeling."

"Aw hell, what's it matter now?" Barrett said. "You've gotten him safely to a town and we've only lost a day. What's the point in even bothering discussing it any…" He stopped. Realization came to him. "Wait, you ain't wantin' to take this guy along are you?"

"Why not?" Tifa asked. "He's got a mystery to solve, and some secret score of his own to settle with Sephiroth. And, he's not the best in a fight by any means, but he's not totally helpless either."

"Actually," Red said, "My gut feeling is that our encounter with the drone was his first fight, ever. Taking that into account, he didn't do very badly at all."

"Still, I don't know…" Barrett insisted.

It was then that Cloud finally spoke up. "We're going after Sephiroth. We can't afford to turn down any help at all."

"Even if it turns out to not be help?" Barrett screamed. "Damn spikey, think!"

"He is thinking Barrett." Tifa said. There are five of us in this room, and four are in agreement to take him along."

"This ain't no democracy!" Barrett objected, but without any real force. He knew he had lost the argument. Finally he said "Alright. But Teef, it's on your head if this comes back to bite us."

"No." Aeris stepped in. "I was the first one to speak up for him, and the most insistent. It won't come back on us, but if it did I'm the one you'd need to come down on."

"Remember you said it." Barrett answered, shaking his head. "Anyway, we'll wait here one more night and head south at dawn. Right now it's… Let's see… Not quite three o clock. Everyone do whatever you need for the next three hours, then meet back here at six."

OOOOOOO

===Resume First-Person P.O.V. ===

While the meeting was being held, I continued to sit on the wall and think. One thing was easy to deal with, or so I hoped. Who knows how long Avalanche would spend trying to catch wild Chocobos to cross the marsh? Maybe I could bribe someone at the stable to just loan us some birds. They'd go back home when we released them after all, it wouldn't be theft.

Other concerns were harder to figure, like the apparent differences in certain aspects of relationships. Going by the game, Aeris and Tifa should have been in constant struggle over the affections of an all but oblivious Cloud. Instead, Aeris herself called Tifa Cloud's girlfriend and didn't seem to have any romantic interest in him at all. It was all very confusing.

At any rate, as I sat there, I suddenly became aware that I was no longer alone. A glance to my right revealed a familiar pony-tailed midget standing at my side. "You!" I exclaimed. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't wring your little blue neck!"

"You would not survive the attempt." Ganthet answered deadpan. Given what I had seen of his power, I didn't doubt him.

"Look… I'm sorry. I'm just a little confused is all."

"Then let us unravel that confusion. First, I _do_ apologize for the abruptness of your insertion into this world. The timing was such that it was unavoidable. I admit I did not expect you to be injured. But it has all worked out has it not? The girl healed your injuries and you are well."

"Okay, okay." I said. "Let's get down to business then. What's up with the differences? I mean, I get the whole distance and time scale thing. Heck, I think I probably would have expected that part in advance if I had been given time to think about it. But, what's up with the other things?"

"By 'other things' I assume you refer to the differences in interpersonal relationships? For example, the Cetra's lack of romantic interest in Mr. Strife?"

"You know good and damned well that's exactly what I'm talking about."

"Indeed. Remember, this is reality. The game was fiction."

"But fiction _based on_ reality." I argued.

"The proper term is indeed 'based on.' The men and women who saw the events and made the game interpreted the events according to their own minds and thoughts. And what better way to add drama than a love triangle?" Ganthet said.

"Makes sense." I admitted.

"Good. Anything else on your mind?"

"Just one thing…" I thought for a moment, trying to figure the best way to put my question into words. "The thing is, I'm supposed to save her life when Sephiroth attacks her at Knowlespole, right?" Ganthet nodded. I continued "How can I do that when these little changes from the story I know mean I can't know for sure what's going to happen?"

With a deep sigh, Ganthet said "A fair question. You are informed enough to understand that even the slightest small change in the beginning can lead to massive changes in the end. Which, in point of fact, is exactly the effect I am trying to achieve by saving the girl's life. Don't worry. It takes a great deal of time for this kind of 'Butterfly Effect" to compound itself noticeably. In the year it will take you to get there, nothing will alter what is supposed to happen, unless you succeed at the penultimate moment."

"So what should I do for now?"

"Proceed with your plan to bribe the Chocobo rancher. It will succeed, and get you back on track. And, don't be so uncertain of yourself with the girl. A deeper relationship can only help your chances of success."

I turned to face Ganthet, intending to ask what he meant by 'a deeper relationship,' but he was gone.

OOOOOOO

It was about twenty minutes later that Aeris appeared from around a corner and motioned for me to come down. I jumped to the ground in three steps, off the tops of a small shed and a garbage bin, and joined her. "What's the word?" I asked.

"Barrett's still not very happy about it, but you're in." She answered.

"Joy." I replied sarcastically. Aeris simply rolled her eyes in answer. "You hungry?" I asked. "There's got to be a restaurant somewhere around here… I'd like to get the aftertaste of those field rations out of my mouth…"

She nodded enthusiastically. "That's a good idea… Those things taste like tissue paper."

As we turned and walked into town searching for an eatery, I asked "So how do you know what tissue paper tastes like anyway? It doesn't encourage me to try your own cooking…" She chased me half way across town.

OOOOOOO

That evening, Avalanche gathered again in the local inn, with myself invited this time. Barrett eyed me warily from across the room, as if expecting me to pull a bomb out of my jacket at any moment, but he said nothing directly to me. Instead he said "Alright Spikey. If we're going after Sephiroth, I think we all need to know just what we're up against."

Cloud nodded, and began to tell his story. It was hard to hold my tongue as he described events so different than I knew the truth to be. "It's not time to make a big move yet." I thought to myself. "This is going to be tricky anyway I slice it, but any further changes need to be carefully made."

As Cloud finished his story, Red gave his expected "What an interesting story." comment and left the room. I learned that Barrett had reserved a third room. He and Cloud would sleep in the first, Tifa and Aeris in the second, and Red with me in number three. I stretched out and found my assigned quarters. Red was already there, curled up on one of the beds. I entered quietly, assuming he was asleep, but as I sat down on the edge of my own bed I saw reflected light and realized his eyes were open. "Big day." I said.

"Yes. And I suspect even bigger days are coming soon, for us all. Are you aware of what lurks in the swamps we'll need to cross in order reach the Mythril Mines?"

I nodded. "Absurdly huge snakes. I've heard about them somewhere."

"The crossing could be problematic."

"We're talking about snakes five hundred feet long and you use the term 'problematic.' You my friend have a gift for understatement." I laughed. "Don't worry. We'll figure something out."

"I should hope so."

"We'll discuss it with the others as we head out in the morning. I may have a plan."

"Very well then. Rest well." He turned and closed his eyes…


	4. Chocobockle Boondoggle

Standard Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy, Green Lantern, or any of their related characters and concepts. This is a work of fan fiction.

"Courage To Change The Things You Can"

Chapter Four: "Chocobockle Boondoggle"

We departed Kalm early the next morning. As we walked across the plains, Aeris asked "So what's our plan anyway? Where are we going?"

Cloud answered "Sephiroth is headed to the south and west. There's really only one destination he could have in mind on that heading."

"Right. The Mythril Mines west of Choco-Bill's Chocobo Ranch." Barrett confirmed. "The mines have entrances on both sides of the mountain range they're tunneled under, so he could pass all the way through and then head on to Fort Condor or even Port Junon."

"And if he reaches Port Junon, he could board a ship for almost any place in the world." Cloud added.

"And we're a day further behind him thanks to someone here." Barrett said glaring at me.

Tifa slapped him upside the head. "It's not his fault."

"And I may have a way to help you make up the lost time." I said. "Red and I talked about it a little last night… You are aware we've got an obstacle in our way right? The marshes in front of the mine entrance?"

"So? No marsh is gonna stop me." Barrett argued. "And if you're afraid of one it's not too late for you to turn back."

I was about to say something unkind when Red spoke again. "It's not the marsh that Christian is worried about Barrett. It's what lives in it."

"Exactly." I said. "Midgar Zolems. Which, for those who don't know, are snakes. BIG snakes."

Barrett laughed derisively again, but Aeris seemed unsettled. "How big?" she asked.

"About five hundred feet long, twenty feet in diameter..."

Barrett was finally convinced of the problem. "DAMN!" he exclaimed. "How do you deal with something that big?"

"Something tells me that's what Christian was getting ready to tell us when he said he had a plan." Tifa replied, "Before _someone_ interrupted him…"

"Right. Here's the deal: Chocobos are a lot faster than the snakes. We'll need them to cross the marsh safely, which means stopping at the Ranch up ahead. The problem is, I know from prior experience with these kind of ranchers…" (True enough, I thought, though said experience was sitting on my couch playing the game) "…that instead of renting us their own birds they'll want to sell us a Lure Materia to go catch our own."

"Aw man, that could take days…" Barrett grumbled.

"Which is where my plan comes in: I'm going to bribe someone to loan us birds whether the ranch manager likes it or not." I said.

Aeris was aghast. "You can't steal them!"

"We're not." I assured her. "Chocobos have strong homing instincts. They'll go straight home when we get to the mine entrance and set them free. We're just borrowing them for a day or so." I could tell from the look on her face she still didn't like it. "Look, I don't like it either. And I'd never, ever, do anything like this normally. But this is too important, fate of the world maybe."

"I guess so… Alright. But you've got to promise me we'll come back and square things up with the actual owner once all this craziness is over with."

"Done."

"Then we're all set." Cloud said.

"Not entirely. There is still one difficulty." Everyone looked at Red as he spoke. "I seriously doubt a Chocobo would permit a creature such as myself onto it's back…"

"Oh!" Aeris exclaimed. "I guess it's my turn to work out a problem. Don't worry Red, I've got a perfect solution… Now let's keep moving."

As Aeris walked on, Cloud turned to Red and said "Be very afraid. Her last 'perfect solution' involved stuffing me into a dress…"

OOOOOOO

We arrived at the ranch several days later. It was a much larger place than in game, a sprawling complex of barns, silos, and stables holding thousands of birds for both the ranch itself and many other owners who didn't have room for them in town. As expected, Choco-Bill refused to rent out any of them, instead offering a Lure Materia at a grossly inflated price far in excess of what you pay him in the game.

While Barrett, Cloud and Tifa kept the man busy, and Red distracted the children, Aeris and I went in search of a disreputable stable hand. Such was distressingly easy to find. We were barely out of earshot of the offices when a voice came from a storage room. "Pssst! You need some birds quick eh?"

We joined the man in a spare room. "Who are you?" I asked.

"Just call me Jack."

"Choco-Jack?" Aeris joked.

"No." He said deadpan. I exchanged an uncertain glance with Aeris, wondering if I really wanted to deal with someone who clearly had no sense of humor whatsoever. "Now, what's it worth to you for an, er… 'unofficial' rental?"

"That will depend a lot on how many birds you can get for us." I answered. "There are six total in our party…"

Jack held up both hands to stop me. "Too many. Bill's pretty obsessive with his attention to detail. Even with all the birds we've got here, he'd notice that many missing. The most I can get you and still shuffle things around enough to keep him from catching on is three."

"They'd need to be really strong." Aeris said. "As in, strong enough to carry two adults and still run full speed…"

"Okay, now that part's not a problem. We've got lots of birds here that are strong enough for that. So, for the three birds, let's say… oh… seventy-five hundred gil. All up front 'o course."

I was surprised. I went in expecting the guy to demand ten times that amount. "Mister, you've got a deal." I said. I dug into my satchel and found the pouch of gil coins Ganthet had included. The bribe took almost all of it, but it had to be done.

Jack counted the money, then said "Alright. Get your friends and meet me just over the hill to the north in one hour."

OOOOOOO

Almost exactly an hour later Jack appeared as promised, leading three strong healthy birds behind him. "Here you go." He said. Looking over the group, Jack said "If I was you, I'd divide up the weight on each bird as evenly as you can. That way none of them will tire out faster than the others, and you'll be able to stay close to each other."

"How long does it take to cross the marsh?" Cloud asked.

"And how many of these snakes are there? Isn't it possible we'll not even see any of them?" Tifa added.

Jack laughed. "The marsh is damned FULL of Zolems. You'll see them the instant you get there. Listen, here's what you wanna do: Ride slowly until you get there, conserve the Choco's strength. Then, as soon as you get to the edge, go all out. Don't stop, don't slow down. Not for anything. At full speed, you'll need around two hours to get across. Luckily, these birds can take that, they're bred for endurance."

Once Jack was gone, we worked out our distribution. Since Barrett was the heaviest and Red was the lightest, they would ride the first bird. That left Cloud with Tifa, and myself with Aeris. Red looked about nervously and asked "Now, what did you have in mind for me?"

"Simple." Aeris answered. She produced an empty spare satchel she had acquired God-knows-where and opened it up. It was very large, more than big enough to accommodate Red's entire body. "In you go." She said.

Head lowered, peering in, Red scoffed. "You cannot be serious."

"I warned you." Cloud said.

"I'm sorry Red, but it's this or nothing." Aeris said apologetically.

Still uncertain, Red took a single step forward and stopped. "Whatever happened to my dignity?" he sighed.

I wished this was happening after the boat ride to Costa Del Sol. If it had been, I could have pointed out that after seeing Barrett in that sailor suit nothing would offend my dignity ever again. Instead I settled for saying "It could be worse dude. At least she didn't haul out a pet taxi."

"Indeed." Red snorted. "Oh well, let's get this over with…" He climbed into the bag and turned around. Aeris pulled the strings snug but not tight, and Barrett climbed aboard his bird, then hefted the satchel over his back. Red had left his head sticking out, and he was now looking over Barrett's left shoulder. "Hmmm… Perhaps this isn't so bad after all."

"See? You like it." Aeris giggled.

"Mount up and head out!" Barrett ordered. He began to move ahead, making it clear he wasn't waiting around for anyone.

Cloud and Tifa mounted their bird, and I carefully climbed aboard my own, then lent a hand to help Aeris up. She climbed in behind me and wrapped both arms around my waist. "Kill me now, I'll go happy." I thought, grateful she couldn't see the ridiculous grin on my face from behind.

Though I had been concerned as to just how well I could actually control a Chocobo, it proved surprisingly easy. The giant birds are not only docile, but also highly intelligent, and the creature clearly knew what was expected of it with very little input on the rider's part. Thus it was that we came to the edge of the marsh in around three hours. Everyone stopped at the top of a high ridge looking down on the marsh, and we saw that Jack hadn't been kidding: There were Zolems everywhere. I counted no less than ten full-grown specimens and countless smaller half-grown ones as well.

"Holy…" Tifa whispered. "This might get ugly even with the birds."

"We'll have to time our run just right." Cloud said. He pointed out the two adults closest to our position. "If those two move apart, we'll have a clear shot down the middle. Once the Chocobos hit full speed we should be fine."

"Does this seem strange to anyone else?" Red asked peaking out from behind Barrett. "Snakes are predators. They need prey animals to survive… What could this many of them possibly be eating?"

"Well, they're probably cold-blooded like other reptiles." I offered. "If so, they'd only need to eat their own body weight in a year, as opposed to the ten times that or more a warm-blooded predator would need. That helps some."

Red nodded. "Yes. It would also mean they can go months between meals. It's still not enough though…"

"Probably the bigger Zolems eat the littler ones." Cloud said.

Everyone stared at him. "What? They're snakes. Snakes do that kind of thing." He argued.

"It's still horrid." Aeris replied.

"Horrid or not, it's probably a valid observation." Red said. "Look! The big adults are moving the way we need them to."

Sure enough, the adult Zolems Cloud had indicated were now moving away from each other, opening the path we needed. Cloud waited until they were nearly three hundred feet away from each other then said. "Okay everyone… On my signal… Two… One… NOW!" He cracked the reins of his Chocobo, which was instantly in motion, accelerating faster than I ever would have thought any animal could. The rest of us followed close behind.

The next couple of hours were nerve-racking. While the snakes had absolutely no chance of catching up to us after we were past them, that still left a large number of them that we had to get past before we were safe. Anytime we came anywhere near a Zolem that was more than half-grown, it tried to grab one or more of us as we passed by. Twice, I caught sight of evidence that Cloud's Zolem-cannibal theory was correct. I was glad that Aeris happened to be looking the other way on both occasions, and I said nothing.

Finally, we reached the far side of the marsh, and safety. Back on solid ground we turned the Chocobos loose after feeding them. They loitered, apparently wanting to rest up before their trip back home. I couldn't blame them.

It was near dusk, and in the glare of the setting sun we almost didn't see it. Impaled upon a stripped tree-trunk was the body of a full-grown Zolem. Enormous slashes covered it's body and the ground was stained with hundreds of gallons of blood. "What happened?" Aeris asked in shock.

"Sephiroth happened." Cloud answered. "It made the mistake of messing with him and paid the price."

"Now hold on! How the damn hell are we supposed to deal with someone strong enough to do this?" Barrett demanded.

"I'm not sure yet." Cloud admitted. "We need to get stronger ourselves I guess."

As Cloud was speaking, real clouds began to move in, rapidly blotting out the sun. Lightning flashed and thunder rolled. "Looks like a storm brewing." I said. "C'mon, let's get to the mine entrance before we get soaked."

"Yeah." Barrett agreed. He took one last look at the carcass then said "It's late. We'll camp at the mine entrance tonight and go through tomorrow…"

OOOOOOO

We reached the mine just in time. A ferocious downpour began less than five minutes after we were inside. Everyone worked to start a fire and set up camp. As I finished rolling out my bag, I noticed that Aeris had already finished her own work and was standing right at the entrance, watching the storm. I joined her and said "Good thing we made it here. Quite a storm."

She nodded. There was an expression of excitement on her face as she answered. "It's beautiful! I've never seen rain before… Not really anyway. I don't think drips from leaking pipes up on the plate count."

"No, I'd say not."

"It's too bad there's so much lightning." She said wistfully. "If it was just a calm rain I'd be out there in it. Getting the full experience, you know?"

"Well, don't get too caught up in the idea. With all this lightning, the 'full experience' would be your last experience."

Aeris laughed. "True, true…" She yawned deeply. "We're not that far from the swamp… Are you sure those snakes can't come up on dry land and follow us here?"

"Pretty sure." I answered. "And even if they did, they'd be too big to fit in the front door."

"Good enough for me. I'm gonna lay down." She started to walk back to her sleeping bag, then turned and said "Christian?"

"Hmm?"

"You couldn't tell, being in front, but I was smiling the whole time too…"


	5. Teenage Wutaiian Ninja Nuisance

Standard Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy, Green Lantern, or any of their related characters and concepts. This is a work of fan fiction.

"Courage To Change The Things You Can"

Chapter Five: "Teenage Wutaiian Ninja Nuisance"

Our passage through the Mythril Mines was almost exactly as I expected it to be. Of course, like everything else they were much larger than depicted in the game, but otherwise everything was right. After nearly four hours of spelunking, I was starting to get worried that our timing might be off. After all, there had been no sign of the Turks, and I grew concerned that we were early or, worse, late. At least Barrett's mining experience rendered it unlikely that we could get lost.

Then, from up ahead, we heard the sounds of voices. Cloud and I snuck ahead while everyone else stayed slightly back. We peered over a ledge into a large mine chamber. The Turks were there, but in the darkness of the mine, with only two heads peaking down, they didn't see us. I realized we were in fact late, but only by a few minutes, when Elena said "We'll track down Sephiroth. He's in route to Junon."

"Turks here?" Tifa asked after they had moved on.

"Sephiroth killed the former President. Shinra wants him as badly as we do."

Tifa punched her left fist into her right hand. "No. After what he did to Nibelheim, he's ours."

"Then let's keep moving." Barrett said. "We're almost to the western entrance."

OOOOOOO

I was surprised when we arrived at Fort Condor to discover no sign of an impending Shinra attack. The Fort's defenders recognized Barrett as Avalanche and allowed us in. The single day and night's stay at the fort was a welcome rest, though I was concerned by the absence of assaults, given that such should have been taking place. "Another difference." I thought, and asked the Fort Commander about the battles.

"When we first took over the mountain," He explained, "Shinra was attacking us with ground troops almost every day. A few months ago they backed off. Probably afraid of damaging the materia stores in the reactor."

"So they've given up completely?" Tifa asked.

"Aw hell no… In fact, it's just about that time of day… C'mon, lemme show you something…" The commander led us up to the roof and pointed out to the south. The land there was in a shambles, pockmarked with hundreds of craters.

"What did this?" Red asked.

The commander jumped at Red speaking, but recovered smoothly. "Just wait. You'll see in a minute."

Within a few minutes, I became aware of the low drone of aircraft engines, approaching from the direction I guessed Junon was in. A trio of enormous Gelnika-type bombers lumbered into view, opened their bomb bay doors, and plastered the area to the south with explosives.

"They're trying to scare us into submission." The commander said. "This is their way of saying 'We don't even have to fight to destroy you.' Apparently, we're supposed to be too dumb to know they want the reactor intact."

Red shook his head. "Evil always underestimates it's opponents. That's why it loses."

Barrett stared down at him. 'Damn. I like that."

"Maybe you should make it our motto." Tifa replied.

"Damn straight… I just might…"

Afterwards, we were invited to stay for the night, and accepted.

OOOOOOO

Several days later we were passing through a dense forest. Barrett had warned everyone to keep a careful watch for lurking predators, but thus far nothing had appeared. Even Red said he didn't detect the scent of anything dangerous, and this was upsetting him because it wasn't normal. "Barrett is correct." Red said. "A forest like this should be swarming with dangerous creatures… And I do in fact scent the _former_ presence of such… But there's been nothing for over a week…"

"Well I for one am not going to complain about the lack of danger." Aeris said. "It's a nice change I think, and we should enjoy it while it lasts."

Red snorted. "I was not complaining. I was simply pointing out that the absence is an anomaly. And anomalies represent potential dangers of their own."

Before anyone could respond, the attack came. From our left flank came a spread of half a dozen small shurikens, scattering the group. Then, from the right, cutting through foliage and even thick tree branches as if they weren't even there, came an enormous pinwheel shaped boomerang. It spun through the air, forcing Cloud and Tifa to separate to avoid being injured.

"Yuffie." I thought.

The boomerang reached the apex of it's ark and turned back the way it had come from. Then the young ninja herself appeared from a place I hadn't expected, grabbed her weapon in mid-flight, and jumped towards Cloud. She vaulted off of his head, mussing up his hairdo in the process, and was gone.

Everyone was looking at each other in shock. "What the &$%# was that?" Barrett demanded.

"HEY!" Cloud exclaimed. He was staring at his sword in astonishment. "My materia's gone! She stole it right out of the blade!"

"How the hell…?" Tifa started to say, then realized something herself. "My gil!" She shook a now empty pouch upside down.

"But… Cloud's the only one she was anywhere near…" Aeris argued. "How did she…?"

"Oh who cares?" Tifa shouted. "She went that way! Let's get her!" Everyone rushed off in the direction Yuffie had been going. I shrugged and followed.

Rushing to catch up with everyone else, I finally came up beside Aeris and Red. "Well. At least this explains the lack of predators. Our thief has been busy." Red said.

"Does it occur to either of you that someone that good at stealth isn't going to be followed if she doesn't want to be?" I asked. "Either she's not really going this way, or we're running into a trap."

"Valid possibilities." Red agreed.

"Who was she anyway?" Aeris wondered. "She was only in sight for a second or two, so I didn't get a good look. But there was something familiar about her… I think I've seen her picture somewhere before…"

"Me too." I said, thinking maybe I could speed up the process of bringing Yuffie into the group if I called her out on who she was. "It actually makes sense that Aeris would have seen a picture at some point, in a newspaper or something. Yuffie _is_ technically a princess after all." I thought. "And since this isn't following how it went in the game, I can't mess things up, I hope."

From ahead came screams then the sounds of angry shouting and a high-pitched female laugh. We slowed and carefully moved in closer. I peaked around the trunk of a large tree. Barrett, Cloud, and Tifa were hanging inside a net suspended from a tree branch high above. Barrett was cussing like a wounded pirate, and Tifa was, for once, giving him a run for his money in the 'colorful adjective' department.

Yuffie herself stood about ten feet away from the net trap, laughing. "Serves you right, Shinra scum!" she exclaimed. "Your soldiers may have beaten Wutai, but none of you will ever best the world's greatest ninja! Now, hand over the rest of the materia and all your gil and I'll let you go."

"I've got a better idea!" Tifa shouted. "You let us go right now, return our stuff and apologize and maybe- _maybe_… I won't reduce you to a greasy red smear on the forest floor!"

"I'd like to see you try." Yuffie taunted.

Stepping into the clearing, I cleared my throat, causing Yuffie to jump, startled. "Actually," I said, "I've seen Teef _punch_ giant robots into spare parts. I wouldn't mess with her if I were you."

Aeris stepped up by my side. "And I'm not sure how good a ninja you can be if you didn't notice we were even there." Behind Yuffie, Red was slowly slipping into attack position, unnoticed by the ninja.

"I knew you were there!" Yuffie lied. "I'm no fool here. Nothing escapes my notice!"

I sighed. "No? Red, go ahead please."

Red leapt forward and in half a second Yuffie was on the ground, face first, screaming for him to let her up. I strolled slowly over to the net and tried to cut it open. I didn't get anywhere with it. "Ha! Good luck with that!" Yuffie shouted from the ground, "It's made of Wutainese silk! You'll need a better weapon than that to cut it open you Shinra gimp!"

"We're not Shinra brat." Barrett exclaimed. "Point in fact, we're their worst enemy!"

"No, I'm their worst enemy!" Yuffie argued. She seemed pedantic, even childlike. "World's greatest ninja! Don't forget it!"

"You just gave me a perfect opening for what I want to say kid." I thought. I looked to Aeris and feigned an expression of realization. "Wait a minute… Wutai… Ninja… Aeris! That's where we've seen her picture before! Yuffie Kisaragi. Daughter of Shogun Godo of Wutai."

"Damn!" Barrett exclaimed from inside the net. "You're right, that is her!"

"We should be on the same side here kid." I said.

"Don't call me a kid! And I'll never be on the same side as you! I hate Shinra!"

"Oh for the love of fu…" I started to exclaim, but Aeris placed on hand over my mouth.

"I think we hear enough of that kind of language from Barrett." She said calmly.

"Wait 'til you meet Cid." I thought. I said only "Yeah, I guess so… Sorry."

Aeris walked over and knelt down in front of Yuffie. "We're not Shinra." She said. "We're Avalanche. And if you hate Shinra half as much as you say, you should be helping us instead of stealing our stuff."

A small lightbulb seemed to finally go on in Yuffie's head. "Avalanche? For real? Aw man, I've messed up big time haven't I?"

"I would say so, yes." Red replied, still standing on her back.

"Alright, alright…" Yuffie sighed. "Let me up. Really, no tricks, on my honor as a ninja."

Red stepped carefully off of her back and she slowly stood and stretched. "Alright. I guess I should let you guys down." She then pulled her boomerang and stretched back an arm to throw it, causing everyone to scream for her to stop. "What? Look, I promised no tricks and I meant it. But I wasn't kidding about how strong Wutaiian silk is. The only way to let them free is to cut the rope with the boomerang."

"Right. I got that. But if I were you, I would place Cloud's materia and Tifa's money on the ground, back away slowly, cut the rope, and run like hell." I said.

Yuffie started to laugh, then looked Tifa in the eyes. The older woman was still glaring maliciously at her. With a fearful swallow, Yuffie nodded in agreement and did as I said. She was out of sight into the forest before the net hit the ground.

OOOOOOO

It took nearly half an hour to extricate everyone from the net. Tifa was still fuming as we finished recovering everything and started on our way once more. After a few miles she said "I've never been so embarrassed in all my life! Stupid little brat!"

"Brat…" Barrett agreed, "But good in a fight for sure. I almost wish we could've recruited her."

"Be careful what you wish for." I thought.

"You may yet have the chance." Red said. "You are aware that she is following us?"

"What?" Tifa asked. "Are you sure?"

"Quite. The girl is shadowing our trail, two hundred feet back and approximately thirty feet to the north."

"What should we do about her?" Aeris asked.

"I'm not sure we do anything." Cloud said. "Like Barrett said, annoying or not, she IS clearly a very skilled Wutaiian ninja. If she wants to join us, and if she doesn't try to rip us off again, she'd be an asset."

"That second part is a pretty big damned 'if' Spikey." Barrett said.

"I say we give her a chance." Aeris said. "People from Wutai are big on their personal honor right? All we have to do is make her swear on her own personal honor to not pull anything. Right?"

"That's a start." I said. "I'm for letting her in, but even with her oath I say we should have at least one of us assigned to keep a close eye on her at all times… And if she tries to get us to go back home to Wutai with her, I'd say no very firmly."

"One damned tag-along after another." Barrett grumbled while eyeing me. "Alright."


	6. Junon Harbor Reloaded

Standard Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy, Green Lantern, or any of their related characters and concepts. This is a work of fan fiction.

Author's Note: C'mon people, two reviews for five chapters? You make me sad…

"Courage To Change The Things You Can"

Chapter Six: "Junon Harbor Reloaded"

After the encounter with Yuffie we traveled on for several more hours before making camp for the night. Even with someone awake at all times during the night, the ninja somehow managed to slip into our camp undetected and make herself at home. We awoke the following morning to find her eating pilfered rations and asking how long it would take to reach Junon, the height of feigned innocence as if she belonged in the group all along. Tifa glared and Barrett shook his head and grumbled curses under his breath, but since we had agreed that she might be useful, nothing was said out loud.

In fact, over the next morning Yuffie did prove her worth in three monster attacks, and even Barrett started to come around to her, at least until the "Are we there yet's" started. The first one came around noon, and they continued every hour for the next four days.

It was like clockwork. Every hour, on the hour, Yuffie would loudly exclaim "Are we there YET?" and at least one of us would shout at her to shut up, and she would groan in exasperation. By the end of the trip, only Aeris had yet to snap at the girl, and I could tell that even she was getting very, very close. Fortunately, the last time she asked there was a different answer.

It was around one in the afternoon when Yuffie again asked the question, and from the front of the group Red answered "Yes."

The girl started to groan as usual, then realized the answer wasn't no this time. "Wait? What? Yes? We're actually here?"

"Indeed." Red replied. "Come and see." We all climbed to the top of a rise and looked down on the sea, and the port nestled against the cliffs.

"It's like a small version of the Midgar plate." Aeris noted, staring down at the base.

Barrett answered "Yeah. Way I understand it, Fort Junon was actually the prototype for the larger plate in Midgar."

"Are there slums underneath the base?" Tifa asked.

"Sure are. Shinra goes out of their way to hurt people everywhere they go."

Cloud said "If Sephiroth is here, it's unlikely he would bother with the old town underneath at all. He'd be up in the actual fort somewhere… But how can we get in there? It's gonna be guarded like crazy."

I said "Maybe we should head for the town itself first. With that ugly sun-blocking base overhead, it's bound to be full of people who don't like Shinra and might be willing to help us."

"Hmmph. Not a bad idea." Barrett admitted. "If anyone knows a way to get up on that plate it'd be the locals. Alright, let's go."

OOOOOOO

Our arrival created a stir in town. Old women stared before pulling drapes closed, and little children hid and peered out from behind building corners and piles of debris. I was waiting tensely for the sound of a scream that would indicate Bottomswell's attack, but nothing was forthcoming. Then a lone man emerged from his home and approached us. "If you're who I think you are," he said, "You'll come with me before the security patrols catch sight of you."

Having little in the way of better options, we followed. Once inside and out of sight, Cloud said "We appreciate the help, but why are you doing it?"

"You are Avalanche, right?" the man replied. "Mr. Wallace's face is on wanted posters all across the continent. Yours too Miss Lockhart. None of us here in Junon has any great love for Shinra. If I can assist you, I'm not missing the chance."

"What we need is to get up to the Fort itself." Cloud answered.

"Hmm… That's tricky. There's an elevator, but they card everyone." The man turned his head and shouted "Pris?" A small girl ran into the room. "This is my daughter Priscilla. Oh, and I'm Jansen." He said. "If you need anything at all, just ask and she'll get it for you. Meanwhile, give me a day or so and I'll see about finding a way to get you up top."

I breathed a sigh of relief when I realized who Priscilla was. The fact that she was still unharmed meant that we had somehow gotten ahead of schedule and were here early. I'd need to stay near the beach and be ready to get the kid to safety, but at least we weren't running behind.

"Do we actually need to stay hidden in here?" Yuffie whined. "I was hoping to get out and see the town."

Jansen answered "Well… There aren't really all that many patrols anymore, and the ones there are aren't usually very thorough. Most of the people in town are whipped and they know it. I suspect you'll be okay singly or in pairs. Just be careful."

"Alright!" Tifa exclaimed. "C'mon Cloud, let's hit the materia shops!" She pulled him out the door before he could object. Yuffie, of course, was already gone, having slipped out on a shopping spree of her own, though being Yuffie it was more likely to be a shop_lifting_ spree…

OOOOOOO

=== Begin Third-Person P.O.V. – Tifa ===

Tifa led Cloud all around the town, seeking out shops for armor, weapons, and materia. Yet everywhere they went, they found only shopkeepers apologizing to customers for the paltry nature of their wares. Every time, the message was some variation of "I don't understand it, I had an excellent supply of high-quality items just minutes ago, but now it's all gone."

"Were you robbed?" Tifa asked the third vendor when he also begged the lack of goods.

"It sure looks that way." He said. "But the items were right here not ten minutes ago, and no one but you has come in during that time. If I've been robbed the thief was invisible."

"Thief…" Tifa murmured narrowing her eyes, "…or ninja? Come on Cloud, I've got an idea…" Together they found an open-air café that hadn't yet been robbed of it's food and ordered drinks.

"Why are we here?" Cloud asked.

"We're here because that stupid little thief-girl is at it again, and I'm not allowing her antics to reflect badly on Avalanche."

"Teef, so far all we've seen her steal is materia and gil. Why are we waiting for her at a restaurant?"

"You heard how loud she complained about the taste of the field rations. Trust me, once she has her fill of stolen goods, she'll realize how hungry she is for actual food." Tifa replied.

Cloud nodded and they sat in silence for several minutes. Finally he said "Tifa?"

"Yeah?"

"I've been thinking… about Nibelheim."

"Oh? What about it?"

"Well… I'm just wondering what it looks like after all this time? Is it still in ruins, or has any of it been rebuilt… That kind of thing."

"Who would rebuild with everyone but us dead?" Tifa asked.

Cloud started to answer, but before he could there was a loud scream from the direction of the shoreline…

OOOOOOO

=== Resume First Person P.O.V. ===

While Cloud and Tifa were out looking for shops and Yuffie was out looting the same, I was still standing in the front room of Jansen's home, looking out the windows towards the sea. Little Priscilla had left with Barrett, showing him the way to the elevators in case we decided to try getting up to the fort that way. With him with her and the elevator far from the water, I wasn't terribly worried about her as yet.

"You seem awfully deep in thought." Aeris said as she entered from another room.

"Plotting." I answered honestly. "There are a lot of things that we need to get done in a short time with the whole Sephiroth situation."

"Makes sense. But, you can spend too much time on such things. Gotta give the mind a rest too." Aeris replied. She grabbed my right hand and started pulling. "C'mon, let's take a little walk. Get some rest for that weary mind."

"What about the others?"

"Only other one still here is Red and he's engrossed in Jansen's private library, reading up on Junon's history… You've not seen funny 'til you've seen a whatever-he-is wearing reading glasses."

As we went out the door, an odd thought occurred to me. "Reading glasses? Where does he carry them?"

Aeris shrugged. "Same place he carries his bedroll I guess… You know, he doesn't have his own satchel, and you never see him carrying anything, but every night when we make camp there it is."

We stared at each other for a moment. I hadn't even noticed this strange fact, but now that she mentioned it, I saw she was right. "Freaky." I finally said.

Laughing, we went outside and started slowly down the street. As we walked, we talked about a lot of little unimportant things. At some point, I realized we were holding hands and tensed slightly with the surprise. Aeris said nothing, though I suspect that she had known all along. As for me, it was at that moment that I understood that my own feelings had matured in the weeks we had been traveling together. What had started out as a slightly nutball infatuation with an (I thought) fictional character had evolved into genuine love. I wondered what Ganthet would make of this. I wondered if she was feeling the same way, or if I was reading too much into her attention. I wondered how this would complicate my attempts to keep her alive.

"There's that deep thinking again." Aeris whispered. She drew closer and leaned into my side. "I wish you'd tell me what's on your mind."

"I wish I would too." I admitted.

She stepped away, hand still in mine, turned, and began walking backwards in front of me. "Then why don't you? Christian, I've known from the first day that there's something different about you… Does it have something to do with that? Because you know, I've kept trying to figure it out the whole time and I've not gotten anywhere."

Just then, we heard a scream from the harbor. "Saved by the big ugly sea monster." I thought. "Come on, let's check this out!" We ran towards the shoreline…

OOOOOOO

We arrived at the shore simultaneously with Cloud and Tifa. Priscilla was unconscious already, lying in the surf, and the monster was hovering directly over her. "Priscilla!" Cloud shouted. "What's she doing here anyway?"

"You've got me. I thought she was with Barrett." I answered.

Huffing loudly as he ran up, Barrett started swearing at the sight. "She was! I turned around and she was gone…" He looked up at the monster. "Damn! What is that ugly thing?"

"After what it did to the little girl, it's sushi." Tifa answered. She ran forward and leapt into the air, but wasn't able to get high enough to reach the creature.

As Tifa was falling back towards the ground, I said "It's too high for melee attacks. We'll need Barrett's gun-arm and magic to hurt it!"

"Damn straight!" Barrett exclaimed. He assumed a firing stance and opened up with every barrel on his arm. Aeris started casting bolt.

"What can we do?" Tifa shouted. "We're not as good with materia as Aeris!"

"Get the girl." I shouted back. "When this thing goes down it'll land right on top of her if you don't!"

Tifa and Cloud both nodded and ran in, trying to reach Priscilla. Meanwhile, the monster was getting annoyed with Barrett's attacks, and attempted to stop him with it's bubble attack. I saw what was happening and moved to free him, but before I got there a high-pitched battle-cry rang through the air. Yuffie, loaded down with multiple satchels full of stolen goods but still able to move with ease appeared out of nowhere. She bounced off the top of the bubble encasing Barrett, simultaneously popping it with a weak fire spell, leapt high into the air, and threw her boomerang scoring a direct hit on Bottomswell's head.

Now enraged, the creature summoned up it's Big Wave attack. Take it from one who was there in person, that move is WAY nastier than the game makes it seem. In an instant, everyone was inundated by a tsunami wave that tossed us around and destroyed any organization we had in our ranks. Yuffie fared worst of all because she still hadn't landed from her leap when the wave hit, so when she did land her own momentum was added to that of the water, battering her about and tearing the satchels from her grasp.

As the wave subsided, I forced my head above water to get my bearings. Aeris was still by my side, hanging on for dear life to the hem of my jacket. Yuffie was atop the town's seawall, teetering on the edge of passing out. Barrett, huge, strong Barrett, had _almost_ held his ground. He was perhaps ten feet back from where he had been standing to begin with, taking aim to shoot again.

Cloud was hanging from a steel pylon on one of the fort's support legs. Tifa hung from his left arm, and held the unconscious Priscilla in her own free arm. "Cloud!" She shouted, "She's not breathing! Let me down to the ground!" He let go and Tifa splashed into the receding waters, now only an inch deep. In an instant Cloud was by her side. "She needs CPR or something…" Tifa fretted.

"Don't worry, I think I remember how from my early pre-soldier training." Cloud answered. He knelt down and started working to get the girl breathing again.

Meanwhile, the rest of us were dealing with a creature that had us matched single-handedly. Barrett was still shooting, and Aeris ran to Yuffie's side to aid her while I tried to assist with Bolt. As with Cloud and Tifa though, I wasn't half the caster Aeris was, and it did little. I was thinking about how effective Yuffie's boomerang had been, and was considering throwing my own sword at the monster when I felt something cold and metallic being pressed into my free hand. I looked down and saw Red had arrived, and the cold object was a grenade.

"Where did you get this?"

"The usual place." He answered. "Our foes have dropped many useful items along the way. I keep them around."

"But… where? How?"

"If I may suggest, that weapon is most effective when actually used."

The comment made me realize I was just holding the grenade instead of throwing it. "Oh. Right you are." I pulled the pin and tossed the grenade which exploded just over Bottomswell's head. The shock wave tore into it's body, doing tremendous damage, and the creature finally fell back into the sea. As it fell, it managed another Big Wave attack, but with only Barrett, Red, and myself still in range, and with all of us knowing it was coming this time, the carnage was less severe.

Once the wave was past, I saw that Aeris had managed to heal Yuffie's injuries, though the ninja was still clearly light headed from the blows she had taken. Along with Barrett and Red I rushed to where Cloud was trying to save Priscilla. Aeris and Yuffie joined us a few moments later.

"Anything?" Barrett asked.

Tifa shook her head. "Not yet."

It took another three tense minutes before Cloud succeeded, and Priscilla coughed up water and started crying. "It's okay… You're okay now kid…" Tifa said, trying to calm her. "Cloud, do you think you can carry her home? We've got one more thing to take care of here."

After Cloud had left, Tifa turned her full attention on Yuffie. "Now let's talk about all the five-finger discounts you've been getting in town…"

Holding up both hands, Yuffie tried to play innocent. "What? Who? Me? I wouldn't…"

"No?" Tifa asked. She grabbed up one of the satchels Yuffie had lost in the first wave, held it high and upside-down, and with one quick blow knocked loose the lock holding it closed. Tens of thousands of gil worth of stolen property rained out onto the ground, Materia and weapons, armor and accessories, someone's kitchen sink…

"Yuffie!" Everyone else exclaimed at the sight.

"Damn! And I was about to thank her for getting me outta that bubble!" Barrett exclaimed.

Backing away, Yuffie said "Look, I can explain… You see, it's…" She pointed behind us and attempted the lamest diversion in the history of the world. "LOOK! A HUGE DISTRACTING THING!" She shouted. When no one was fooled, she threw a smoke bomb to the ground and vanished.

"Ugh… Can you believe the nerve?" Tifa complained, exasperated.

"It could be worse." Aeris answered.

"It _is_ worse." Red stated. "That was only one satchel. She has three others stuffed just as full. And with Yuffie gone, _we're_ the ones who get to return everything to it's rightful owners."

Aeris shook her head and sighed. "Well, let's get started then…"


	7. Enter: Jenova

Standard Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy, Green Lantern, or any of their related characters and concepts. This is a work of fan fiction.

Author's Note: The length of time I'm assuming the boat trip from Junon to Costa Del Sol takes in this chapter might seem excessive to some, and it certainly requires that things don't happen quite as they did in-game. Just bear in mind that I'm going for realistic travel times on an earth-sized planet, and that's quite awhile when crossing an ocean by freighter.

"Courage To Change The Things You Can"

Chapter Seven: "Enter: Jenova"

Early the following morning everyone (except Yuffie, who was still in hiding from Tifa) was gathered in Jansen's study, trying to plan our ascent to the Fort. Of course, I knew that Priscilla would soon come and give Cloud a way to the top, but I couldn't say anything about that, and besides it still left me wondering how the rest of us would manage. "Did you get a chance to examine the elevator?" Red asked Barrett.

"Yeah. And it's a bust. The security on the thing is light enough that if we planned to bust into the fort shooting we'd be able to get aboard. But 'O course that'd be a quick way to die with all the Soldier's stationed up there… We've got to sneak in. Somehow."

"You know," Tifa said, "Even if we could only get one person up there, it'd still help. That person could at least search the base for Sephiroth."

From behind Red came a small thin voice. "Excuse me?" We looked to see Priscilla standing at the door.

"Hey! She's up!" Cloud said with a grin. "How you feelin' kid?"

"Much better thank you." Priscilla answered. "I heard what you were saying. And, I think I know a way for one of you to get up to the fort. Only one though, since that person would have to take the whistle with them…"

"Whistle?" Aeris asked.

Priscilla nodded, and handed a small metal whistle to Cloud. "There's a dolphin that lives just off shore. He's friendly and I play with him a lot. I've taught him to respond to the whistle… When I blow on it, he swims up underneath me, then shoots straight up out of the water carrying me with him. It's fun. Anyway, he can jump high enough that if he did it with one of you, you might be able to reach the underside of the plate and climb on up."

"Brilliant." Red murmured.

"Yeah. Thanks kid." Barrett said. "So who's gonna go?"

"Cloud." Tifa, Red, and I said at the same time.

"Alright." Cloud said. "But the rest of you…"

Jansen entered the room and scooped Priscilla up in his arms. "I may have a plan for that." He said, "But it'll be mid-day before we can implement it. And we'll need to be extremely cautious… I just heard the news: Rufus Shinra will be here later today."

"Aw hell, what's that little pipsqueak doing here?" Barrett asked.

Shrugging, Jansen answered "I don't know the details, but he's heading somewhere to the west. Apparently, he had intended to go the fast way, via airship, but the thing still isn't ready to launch. So he's gonna have to take a cargo ship instead."

"Alright…" Cloud mused. "I'm going on up. I'll see the rest of you later…"

OOOOOOO

Jansen's plan was actually a triumph of outside-the-box thinking. He said "If you can't climb up to the fort, climb _down_ to it." We had to travel around, outside of the town itself, and up to the top of the steep cliffs that bordered the fort to the east. Once there, we used mountain climbing equipment he provided to rappel down. I doubt it would have worked ordinarily. A whole group of inexperienced people rappelling down a five hundred foot cliff in full sight of the city should have been seen. But with everyone in the base freaking out over Rufus' arrival, no one bothered to keep watch on the cliffs.

Once on level ground again, we snuck through the back alleys behind the base's single wall of large buildings, up against the cliffs. As we passed one specific building, Red's sensitive ears overheard a conversation. Everyone snuck in close to listen.

"So President Shinra's going west, to Costa Del Sol?" Someone asked.

"Yeah. I dunno what he's after, but it must be important."

"Oh? How'dya figure?"

"Seriously? Think man! Do you know how long it takes for a bulk cargo ship to sale between here and the resort? That's a whole ocean they gotta cross… It's like a two month trip."

"Really?" The first man said. "You're right then, Rufus must be after somethin' big to spend that much time out of touch in the middle of nowhere."

"Yeah. Especially considering that the airship will be ready to go before too long. And it's so much faster, Rufus is only gaining maybe three or four days this way. Whatever he wants has got to be time-sensitive as all hell, considering he's willing to endure two months on a boat instead of waiting in the lap of luxury here, just to gain those couple of days."

"Huh. Good point. Say, I wonder if it's got anything to do with that weird guy in black?"

"Who knows? Now let's go before we're late for the parade."

There was the sound of an interior door closing, then Aeris said "Man in black? Sephiroth?"

"Sounds like." Barrett replied. "What are we gonna do?"

Tifa answered "If Sephiroth might be heading west, we've got to follow. We've got to sneak aboard that ship and hope Cloud makes it on as well."

"Could be tricky…" Barrett said.

"Yeah." I agreed. "We'll need uniforms from somewhere. Either Soldier uniforms, or else Sailor's outfits…"

"Perhaps we should look for such within this very structure." Red suggested. "After all, from the context of their conversation I surmise that the men we heard were themselves Soldiers of one type or another…"

Everyone agreed, and we slipped into the building. Fortunately, whoever might have normally been guarding the place was involved in the parade. Once inside, we soon learned that Red was correct. This was indeed a barracks for soldiers and sailors, and there were plenty of uniforms for the taking. Tifa, Aeris, and I were able to locate Soldier uniforms, but Barrett of course had to settle for a sailor suit. He left to put it on, grumbling all the way.

Soon after, I had managed to change in a cramped stall and rejoined the others. Barrett was still complaining, and he wasn't the only one. "How does anyone actually like pants instead of dresses or skirts?" Aeris asked. "They're so uncomfortable…"

"You'd get used to it after awhile." Tifa answered.

"I don't know…" Aeris replied.

"Well, that's your own preference I guess." I told her. "And, really, us guys don't have an option. You're not ever seeing me in a dress."

"It would be called a kilt on a guy." Aeris grinned. "And you'd look as cute in it as Barrett does in his little sailor suit…"

As Barrett began to gesture and swear, I asked "Hey, where's Red?"

"Right here." Came the answer. Red emerged from another room, loosly fitted in a Soldier uniform and struggling to walk on his hind legs. "How do you humans balance like this?" he asked.

"Years of practice." I answered. "We'd better get moving, don't want to miss the boat."

"I just hope Cloud doesn't miss it." Tifa said.

"And Yuffie?" I joked.

Tifa glared at me. "Yuffie I can take or leave." She replied…

OOOOOOO

By virtue of our pilfered uniforms, we easily made it to the cargo ship without raising anyone's suspicions. As we were slipping aboard, I heard a horrific noise I can't really describe except to say that it sounded like some large animal dying a slow death. This noise was abruptly cut off by a loud slapping sound, and a man's voice saying "What did I tell you about that obnoxious laugh?"

"Rufus and Heiddegar." Tifa whispered. "I'd know that godawful excuse for a laugh anywhere."

"Everyone blend in somehow near the doors." Red suggested. "We might hear something of value." Doing as he said, we all watched and listened as Rufus sat bored through the send-off show, then boarded the ship with his crony in tow. The ship began to move away from the port a few minutes later.

"Did you hear that?" Tifa asked. "We were right. They think Sephiroth is heading further west as well…"

"Isn't Nibelheim on the continent this ship is headed for?" Barrett asked. "Maybe he's goin' back there again."

Tifa wasn't certain. "Why? There's nothing left now, he burned the whole town to ash."

"Back home, we've got a saying that a criminal always returns to the scene of his crime sooner or later." I said. "I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't end up there eventually."

"And where is home?" Red asked, eyeing me with interest.

"Long way off." I tried to change the subject. "So, how are we going to handle this? I know it's a huge ship, and it'll probably be running a skeleton crew like cargo ships usually do… But we still need a place to hide, and food and water, for two months…"

"Just worry about accommodations." Red said. "I've got plenty of foodstuffs."

"Got them where?" Aeris asked. "Red, where do you carry so much stuff? Where do you carry _anything_ for that matter?"

Red turned and tottered away, still on his hind legs. As he went, he muttered something that sounded like "Hammer space."

The rest of us stood where we were until a familiar high-pitched voice exclaimed "Here you are! Wow, I'm glad you all made it aboard too!" We turned to see Yuffie in a sailor suit.

"_Did_ we all make it?" Tifa asked. "We've not seen Cloud."

Yuffie answered "Oh, he's here. I ran into him a couple minutes ago. Gave me a tranquilizer for my motion sickness. Y'know, those things really help!"

"Whatever…" Tifa said. "C'mon, let's find ourselves someplace to hide out, then we'll collect Cloud from wherever he's at…"

OOOOOOO

It didn't take long to find a pair of cargo containers next to each other that were only half-full, and hidden from the main paths taken by the ship's crew by other containers. We used one as quarters for the guys and the other for the girls. The trip was mostly uneventful. I was on edge for quite awhile, knowing Sephiroth was in fact somewhere aboard himself. I wondered why someone so powerful and totally insane wasn't just leaping out and killing the crew all at once. There had to be a good reason for him to bide his time in this way, though whatever the reason was, it escaped me.

Everyone else was reasonably calm. They assumed that we were following Sephiroth who was on another ship further ahead of our own, and didn't expect any trouble 'til we reached land. Red supplied our food, though none but he knew where it was coming from; each day I would return to my sleeping bag to find a pile of ration bars from nowhere.

In any event, it was more than three-fourths of the way through our journey when things finally hit the fan. Each night, one of us donned their stolen uniform and made a trip out to collect fresh drinking water from the ship's galley. On this particular night, it was Yuffie's turn. The trip usually took around twenty minutes, so we were surprised when she came back in less than five. Tifa started to question what her problem was, when Aeris noticed the young ninja had turned as white as a ghost.

"Yuff, what's wrong?" Aeris asked.

"Th… They're dead…" Yuffie said. "The crew I mean. Some guards too… Right down the corridor, a dozen dead sailors and some guards, all torn to shreds, blood everywhere."

"WHAT?" Barrett exclaimed. "Aw man now what's goin' on?"

"Sephiroth." Cloud and Tifa said together.

"Wait…what? He's HERE?" Barrett demanded. "Aw hell…"

"It sure sounds that way." Cloud replied.

"Let's go find him then." Tifa said. "Maybe we can put a stop to this here and now."

Not bothering to wear our disguises, we hurried through the ship, three times having to fight off trigger-happy guards. Eventually we found the engine room, which though larger than in-game was otherwise identical. "Be cautious." I whispered. "He could be in here anywhere."

Proceeding on, we soon found a crewman with his back turned to us. He seemed to be working at a control panel, but then he went rigid and fell over dead, Sephiroth rising into view out of nowhere. "After a long sleep the time has come…"

"Sephiroth!" Cloud exclaimed. He drew his sword and rushed forward. "You _are_ still alive!"

Moving in close behind Cloud, we were greeting by a nightmare image. Sephiroth himself looked far scarier than he ever appeared in any game or movie. The insanity in his eyes was palpable, the rage and hatred distorting his features into a crude parody of a normal face. Masamune was strapped to his back, and in his left arm he held the headless body of Jenova. "Do I know you?" he rasped. "Yes… Yes… Hello Cloud. It's been a long time."

"Sephiroth, what are you up to?" Cloud demanded.

"Up to?" Sephiroth sneered. He began to float up, off of the deck. "The time has come!" He reached up with his right hand, tore an arm off of Jenova's body, and threw it to the ground, then rose out of sight, passing through the ceiling as if it wasn't there. Meanwhile, the arm was moving. The fingers twitched, the whole arm spasmed, and it first started to melt, then grew rapidly into a giant monster.

"WHOA!" Yuffie exclaimed, jumping back. "What is this thing?"

"Jenova." Cloud answered. "Sephiroth's mother, or a part of her anyway!"

There was no time for any further discussion. Having finished it's growth cycle, the alien monstrosity went on the attack. It targeted Cloud first, Firing a pair of laser beams from it's tail that burned his right arm. Barrett opened up with his gun arm and Aeris, Red, and I started casting spells. Aeris casted Quake, while Red used Bolt and I used Fire. I was surprised when the fire spell did less damage than I expected. I had thought it was weak to fire.

Yuffie tossed her boomerang and followed it up with a spread of shurikens. She then caught the returning boomerang, spung around in a single fluid move, and threw it again. Tifa shouted for Barrett to hold off for a minute, which gave her and Cloud a chance to attack as well. The Jenova monster responded by swinging a long tentacle that hit them both, throwing them into the nearest bulkhead. It then fired it's laser attack again. With Cloud and Tifa in the clear, Barrett tried to start shooting, only to be forced to dodge clear of a laser blast. Aeris was curing Tifa who took the worst of the monster's counterattack, and Red tried again to cast Bolt, with minimal effects. Yuffie's boomerang hit home for the third time, tearing open a gaping hole in Jenova's form. The wound started healing, but the monster was angered. It cast Stop, freezing our ninja in place.

"Damn! That's not good!" Barrett shouted.

"Yeah, but at least she's quiet now!" Tifa yelled back.

It occurred to me that Tifa and Cloud should probably try to keep their distance, so I removed the Fire materia from my sword, intending to throw it to her. But as I held it in my hand, I sensed something about it that I hadn't noticed before, something that shouted at me to give it to our best caster instead. "Aeris!" I called out, seeking her attention. She looked to me, and I threw her the materia. 'Tier two on this one!"

"It's leveled up?"

"Yeah. Don't know how I didn't notice before…"

"Right." Aeris nodded. She inserted the materia into her staff and began casting Fira. In her hands, the spell was every bit as effective as I had hoped it would be, tearing into Jenova with ease. The monster turned to face Aeris, but before it could attack her Cloud, Red, and I were in it's way, hacking and slicing away at the various arms and tentacles it tried to attack with.

"We'll keep it busy, you keep hitting it with that spell!" I said. Aeris nodded in understanding and began casting once again.

Red cut off an especially large arm, then said "Tifa, Barrett! It seems to be vulnerable to fire. If you have any options for such, switch to them!"

Barrett installed an elemental materia linked to fire in his gun arm and opened fire again, this time with bullets that were burning as they flew. Tifa changed tactics to her Enemy Skills materia and Flamethrower.

Growing ever more angry, Jenova began spewing out large numbers of laser attacks, in addition to it's other maneuvers. It still seemed as strong as ever, but I suspected we were turning the corner.

Behind us, the 'Stop' effect must have been starting to wear off a little on Yuffie, who was now able to talk again. "Little help here?" she called out.

"Oh shut up Yuffie, we're a little busy right now!" Tifa screamed.

As I would have expected, even the weakest of the Jenova monsters was potent, and it took a long time before it finally shuddered, screamed, and began to melt down into puddle of disgusting glop. Standing over it, Barrett said "Aw man… That's jus' wrong… What's it doing anyway? Melting?"

"It appears to be making it's own gravy." I commented, leading to groans from Cloud, Tifa, and Red.

I looked around for Aeris, but she wasn't in sight. I wondered if she had gone back to our hideout, and why she would do so alone. "We'd better get back into hiding." I said, and stared back that way myself. Everyone started to follow except for Yuffie who of course couldn't.

Seeing us walking away, Yuffie again started shouting "Hey! Little help? C'mon don't leave me here I can't move!"

We all stopped, looked back at Yuffie, then at each other. "How long will it take for that Stop spell to wear off on it's own?" Tifa asked.

"Probably ten more minutes or so." Red answered.

"She's not likely to be discovered in that time." I said. "Most of the crew is dead and the rest are still hiding."

"An extra ten minutes of peace and quiet?" Barrett said.

"Sounds like heaven." Tifa agreed.

We left her there and returned to our hideout.


	8. A Trio of Risks

Standard Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy, Green Lantern, or any of their related characters and concepts. This is a work of fan fiction.

"Courage To Change The Things You Can"

Chapter Eight: "A Trio of Risks"

After the battle with Jenova, we returned to our hideout in the cargo containers. It seems that the survivors of the ship's crew, sailors and soldiers alike, were still hiding themselves, as we encountered no one along the way. I was expecting to find Aeris already there, but she was nowhere to be seen. Under the circumstances, everyone was worried but I convinced them to let me seek her out myself, arguing that they would need all the help they could get when a very angry Yuffie got back.

Thus it was that I headed back out into the ship by myself. It had been a very long time since I had played the portion of the game that included the ship ride, so I wasn't entirely sure, but it seemed like she had been upset over something following the battle. I didn't remember the details of what, but I was determined to try to help however I could.

After a long search, I found Aeris on an open aft deck above the propellers, looking back over the ship's wake. Whatever was bothering her, it was so involving that she hadn't noticed my approach. She looked like she had been crying, or at least on the verge of doing so. Quoting her own line to me from Junon, I said "There's that deep thinking again."

Aeris jumped slightly at my voice, but relaxed when she saw it was me. "What are you doing out here?" she asked.

"I could ask you the same thing."

I started to step closer, but she backed away and said "You need to stay away from me. All of you do. I don't want to hurt you."

"Strange thing to say." I thought. I asked "You lost me. What do you mean?"

"Isn't it obvious? After what we saw in the engine room? I could be dangerous."

"I see nothing obvious at all." I replied. "Aeris, come on, tell me what's bothering you…"

I stepped closer again, and again she backed away until she reached the railing and couldn't go any further. "Go away!" she exclaimed. She started to cry again.

"I'm not going anywhere until I find out what this is all about. And I warn you, I can be as stubborn as you."

This at least got a short laugh out of her. She slid down the side of the railing until she was sitting on the deck. "Will you please just leave?"

"Why?" I asked. "Look, maybe I was reading things wrong, but I like you and I thought that you…"

Aeris quickly stood back up, wiping the tears from her face "Oh, no, don't think what you're thinking now… I do like you. That's why I want you to leave. I don't want you getting hurt!"

Allow me to say here that when I tell you what happened next, you're going to be wondering to yourself "What in the hell was he thinking?" And the answer is, I wasn't really thinking. All I knew right then was that Aeris was deeply upset over something and that she was practically stumbling over her own words trying to get me to leave out of some fear for me, talking on and on about how she would slip away when we reached land, and I did the only thing that seemed like it might get through to her enough to get her to calm down and talk to me: I grabbed her by the shoulders and kissed her.

"Oh!" She said with surprise afterwards. "That was nice…"

"Nice on my end too." I agreed.

Aeris grinned, but nevertheless said "Now will you please go away?"

"Not after that."

"Oooh… You're impossible!"

"Thank you. Now c'mon, tell me what's bothering you. Maybe I can put a better perspective on it, but I need to know what it is first…"

Sitting on the deck again, she sighed deeply. "I'm not convincing you to go any other way am I?"

"You're not convincing me to go at all." I sat next to her. "C'mon now, spill it."

"Look… You know I'm an ancient, a Cetra…"

"Right."

"But Sephiroth is also a Cetra. And if that Jenova thing is really his mother, and I see no reason to think otherwise, then it has to be a Cetra too…"

"Following you so far. Go on…"

"Don't you see the connection? Sephiroth is a Cetra, and Sephiroth is a genocidal madman… Jenova is a Cetra, and Jenova is a monster. A terrible, horrible monster… What does that say about me? How long 'til I go crazy like Sephiroth, or turn into something horrible like Jenova? That's why I want you all to stay away from me! I don't want to hurt you!" She buried her head in her arms and cried again.

The pieces fell into place now. No wonder the poor girl was upset, thinking like that. Of course, I knew that she wouldn't actually leave the group. Something would convince her to stay either way. But, sitting next to her, seeing someone I loved in so much pain, I just couldn't let it slide. I had already taken a risk in kissing her. I decided it was time to take another one. I put an arm around her shoulders and said "I understand why this is upsetting you so much now. And I'm glad you were willing to tell me, because I think I might be able to help you out."

"Help? I don't see how…"

"Just trust me. All I'm asking you to do is sit here and honestly answer three questions for me, then think about the answers. Okay?" Aeris didn't say anything, but she shook her head in agreement and looked directly at me as I asked "First question: Who told you Sephiroth is an ancient?"

Aeris' expression changed to a look of uncertainty. "Rufus Shinra?" She finally answered.

"Oh, a paragon of trustworthy reliable information." I replied as sarcastically as I could manage.

"But he…"

I held up one hand. "Hold on. Two more questions. Number two: If you pick up a history book and read it, what does it say about the Cetra? Does it speak well of them, or badly?"

"Usually very well. They always talk about how the Cetra worked together with the planet to keep ecosystems balanced and protect life everywhere."

"Exactly. Do you really think a human-written history book would speak well of a race of monsters?" I asked. "Third question: I know that If…" I stopped and pretended to need to clear my throat. I had almost said 'Ifalna' when Aeris had yet to speak of her birth mother by name. "I know that your mother was Cetra, but your father was human, right?"

"I don't know anything else about him, not even his name, but yes, that's right."

"Would a human man have married a monster?"

"So what? You're saying this Jenova thing might not be an ancient?"

"I'm saying you should at least consider the possibility that there's nothing terrible about you or your ancestors. History argues against it, your parent's relationship argues against it, you yourself argue against it… The only argument for it comes from a source I wouldn't trust if my life depended on it."

"I see what you're saying." Aeris said, nodding. "But… It was so powerful. What else could it be?"

Two risks down, one more to go: Possibly the biggest one in terms of it's potential to change things. But I had come this far, it was time to finish it up. I said "You know, I've been thinking about that. And there's actually one possibility… One frightening possibility… that comes to mind. Assume that I'm right and Jenova is NOT an ancient, okay?"

"Alright…"

"If it's not an ancient… What if it's the thing that destroyed them?"

I don't know if it was her own rationale, or women's intuition, or some aspect of the many special senses Aeris has inherited from her mother, but she _knew_. It hadn't occurred to her on it's own, but the moment the words were out of my mouth, she just _knew _that what I had said was right. Her eyes opened wide, her mouth dropped open, she stared at me in shock. "My god…" she whispered. "My god, Christian… I'm sure you're right. That makes perfect sense. I mean, _perfect_ sense… It explains everything…"

"Yeah, it does. Feeling better now?"

"Are you kidding?" She laughed. "I don't have to worry that I'm some kind of latent monster now. Thank you for this. For, well, for being as stubborn as me, I guess."

"You can expect _that _without fail."

"C'mon, we've gotta tell the others about this!" Aeris said. She started to turn and run back to the hideout, then stopped. She instead approached me and, wrapping both arms around my neck, said "Of course you understand, now that you've been this stubborn with me, I'm going to be all that much more stubborn about finding out just what you're hiding."

"It's nothing bad…" I started to say.

"I know. I can feel that much. But I'm still gonna find out." I was about to suggest that her attention might be better served trying to find out what the hell Red was hiding, but before I could speak she stretched up onto her toes and kissed me. "Now let's hurry." She said, holding tightly onto my arm and pulling me along in her wake…

OOOOOOO

"Jenova… The entity that attacked the Cetra centuries ago?" Tifa asked after Aeris had finished telling everyone else.

"They called it the 'Calamity from the Sky.'" Aeris confirmed, nodding. "I don't really know much about it… Mother never told me all that much, probably because I was so young. And then she was gone. But you can see the problem we've got..."

Shaking his head, Barrett said "Are you saying this makes things even worse? How?"

"Think about it Barrett." I answered. "The Ancients possessed powers over nature far beyond what we do. And there was an entire thriving species of them… Almost all wiped out by one… just ONE… being."

Red continued my thought "And now that being is still alive… And it's not alone anymore. Aeris and Christian are correct. This is a potential apocalypse in the making."

"So what are we supposed to do?" Barrett demanded. "Just throw in the towel and wait to die? Hell no I'm not doin' that…"

"That's not what we're suggesting at all…" Aeris started to say, but Cloud spoke next.

"We can't do that. Even if it means I die, I'm going after Sephiroth…" he said. "But, maybe the rest of you should back down."

"Not a chance." Tifa disagreed.

Barrett had started pacing. "Well… Can't Aeris do anything? You say the Cetra are so powerful, and she is one…"

"Half." Aeris answered softly. "Half… I can control materia better than the rest of you, hear the planet's voice… …kind of… I'll do what I can of course, but I'm not anywhere near the kind of power level a full Cetra would have been operating on. And even if I were…"

"Even if she was," I finished, "She's just one person. Jenova took out the entire civilization."

"Of course, Jenova spent hundreds of years buried deep underground, hanging onto life by the thinnest of threads. Even with the time it spent in the Nibel reactor, bathed in Mako, it's still probably not at full strength." Red said.

"This is true." Aeris conceded.

"Then that's the hope we need to cling to." Tifa said. "That we can take both her and Sephiroth down before she recovers any more."

"Then it's settled." Barrett decided. "We'll reach Costa del Sol in a few more days. We'll take a single day and night there to resupply and get our bearings, then we'll get back on the trail…"


	9. Mister Hojo Rising

Standard Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy, Green Lantern, or any of their related characters and concepts. This is a work of fan fiction.

"Courage To Change The Things You Can"

Chapter Nine: "Mister Hojo Rising"

In the middle of the night after my talk with Aeris in the previous chapter, I awoke, or thought I awoke, to find myself outside, on dry land. I looked around and saw a complex of large, high-tech buildings in the distance and little else. From behind me came a voice. "Greetings once again Christian."

I turned to face the speaker. "Ganthet. Where are we?"

"My home. Oa. I won't keep you here long." He said, "But we must speak about the choices you made this day. I am not certain it was the best decision you could have made, tactically speaking."

"I already know that. I don't care. She was in a lot of pain and fear and I wasn't going to stand by and let it continue longer than it had to."

"I understand… Please do not miscomprehend my purpose: I am not upset with you, nor am I telling you that you should not have did as you chose. I am simply concerned that you err on the side of caution in your interactions, at least until after your primary mission is completed."

I sighed. "Yeah… Yeah, I know. Let me ask you a question though… Do you really think I'll be able to keep her from finding out the truth? Do you really think I can keep her in the dark forever? Because I'll tell you right now I don't think so, not for a second. A lot of people underestimate Aeris' intelligence, but she's too smart, and too intuitive. She's sensed that there's something different about me from day one, and one way or another she'll figure it out sooner or later…"

"And this frightens you? Yes?" Ganthet asked. "Why?"

"_Telling_ her scares me. If she doesn't believe me, I lose my opportunity to be close to her. If she does, she might think my feelings for her have been an act just to stay close enough to finish my mission."

Ganthet was nodding as I spoke. He replied "Of course, there is a third possibility: That she believes and also knows that your love is genuine. Given her senses, that seems likely."

"Maybe. You haven't answered my question though. Would it be a good thing or a bad thing if she knew?"

"If the third possibility is realized, then it would be to your greatest benefit for her to know, since that would entail having her knowing assistance in preserving her own existence." Ganthet answered. "Of course, you understand that, at least until such time as Cloud falls into the lifestream and is removed from Sephiroth's influence, it is paramount that no one else know the truth of this."

"Yeah, I figured that."

"Then I take my leave. May you be well until we meet again."

I woke up in my sleeping bag aboard the cargo ship.

OOOOOOO

At Costa Del Sol, we departed the ship ahead of Rufus and Heidegger, who apparently hadn't left their private rooms or dismissed their guards since the Sephiroth incident. While everyone else headed into town I hid behind a crate and waited. Information was key, especially when I couldn't be sure of events following the exact course of the game, and I wanted to hear what Rufus said before boarding his helicopter.

Soon enough, both he and Heidegger appeared. "So… Sephiroth AND Avalanche operatives were aboard the same ship as us…" Rufus said, "And not only did you fail to notice this for SIX WEEKS, but then, even after finding out, and knowing with certainty that Avalanche at least was still there, you fail to capture them in limited quarters with two whole weeks to work with? Does that about sum it up?"

Heidegger stumbled over his words, trying in vain to make excuses. "B…but, Mr. President sir… It is a very large ship. Very large… And most of the crew was dead…"

Rufus slapped the man hard, knocking him to the ground. "Shut up. Let us get one thing straight between us right here and now: I am not my father. Do you understand? I am not my father, and I will not tolerate incompetence for old time's sake."

Heidegger turned red in the face, wheezing, "B…b…but sir! Surely I..I..I'm not…?"

"Fired? Not yet. For the sake of your many years of loyalty, I'm giving you one, and only this one, reprieve. Fail again… Hell, even succeed at less than a full one hundred percent… and you're finished. Now, get to work."

Rufus stalked off, grumbling, and boarded the waiting helicopter which departed immediately. Heidegger waited until it was out of sight, then began bullying the sailors, knocking them down and shoving one into the water as he reboarded. Laughing, I went to find everyone else…

OOOOOOO

I arrived on the beach to find Cloud, Tifa, and Aeris already in the midst of confronting Hojo. As I approached Aeris was saying "Why don't you stop lying to us? We know Jenova isn't an ancient and neither is Sephiroth."

Hojo laughed. "You figured that out eh? I must say I'm impressed."

"Impressed?" Cloud demanded. "You knew then?"

"Oh yes. Jenova. 'The Calamity From the Sky' the Cetra called her. Have you understood the significance of that name?" Hojo looked around at us all. "From the Sky. The Sky. Jenova is not of this world, she is alien to Gaia."

"Wait. You're saying Jenova is some kind of extraterrestrial?" Aeris asked. "Isn't that just a little too science-fictiony?"

"That's a good question." Hojo replied. "On the one hand, Jenova fell from the sky, north of Knowlespole, inside an artificial meteor. That seems to argue for the extraterrestrial hypothesis, wouldn't you agree?" When no one replied, Hojo continued "Then again, when you study Jenova's biology and physiology you find a great many anomalies. Jenova seems to be bound by most, but not all, of the laws of physics as we understand them. That argues for an extradimensional hypothesis as opposed to the extraterrestrial one, you see?"

"You knew!" Tifa shouted. The girls who had been hanging on Hojo began to back away. "You knew you were screwing around with something alien, something powerful enough to destroy the world and you just kept it up? Why?"

Ignoring everyone's anger, Hojo continued, saying "Yes indeed. I am impressed. You know, when Professor Gast's team first dug Jenova up, we really did think we had found the intact body of an ancient. We honestly didn't know what we really had. It took us years to figure out the truth. And then that coward Gast ran off on us… But you figured it out this quickly. Hmm… did your mother tell you perhaps? I might have expected Ifalna to put it together…"

"Because of you my mother is dead…" Aeris answered, the first real hint of anger I had ever seen in her tinting her voice.

"What?" Hojo seemed genuinely shocked. "I didn't know. Too bad, really, she was an excellent specimen…"

Aeris glared at the evil man. "Specimen?" she demanded. "Is there no humanity in you at all? I'm telling you about a person… A human being you knew, who you've just found out is dead, and you call her a specimen?"

Totally missing Aeris' point, Hojo laughed and said "Human being? Ifalna? Hardly… Though similar enough to interbreed, Human and Cetra are in fact distinct species; Homo Sapiens and Homo Magus. Count your mother as human? In spite of your paternal genetics, I wouldn't even count you as such."

I seriously considered trying to kill him right then and there, but of course I couldn't. He needed to live, if only long enough to inadvertently remove the barrier from the northern crater. I settled for putting an arm around Aeris' shoulder. She calmed at the touch, and leaned against me, but said "What do you mean 'paternal genetics?' Do you mean my father? Do… Do you know who he is?"

"Was." Hojo answered. Yawned. "He got in the way of science." A strange expression then came over Hojo's face, and he turned his back to us. "West…" He mumbled. "Go… west… reunion…"

"What's he mumbling about?" Tifa asked. "Hey jerk! What are you mumbling about?"

"Hiding something?" Aeris wondered.

"He said 'west.' Maybe Sephiroth is going that way?" I suggested.

"Makes sense." Tifa agreed.

"Yeah." Cloud said. "C'mon, let's go. We're not getting any more out of Hojo…"

As we walked away, Hojo sat back on his chair. "Leaving so soon? Oh well, all the more tanning time for me…"

As we walked back into town, Aeris whispered "My father is gone too." We stopped. "I mean, I always kind of expected but… Somehow I think some part of me hoped he was still out there somewhere… But he's gone too. He's gone and I never even knew who he was and now I'm really alo…" She stopped short of speaking the last word. Looked around, from Tifa, to Cloud, to me. Managed a slight smile. "No. No, I'm not alone. I've got you guys."

We continued into town. "Jackass." Tifa declared, still thinking of Hojo.

"No kidding." I agreed.

"We should've kicked his butt." Tifa argued. "He's got it coming."

Aeris shook her head. "He does, yes… But… Somehow, I feel it needs to wait. Everything in it's own time after all."

"It takes guts for you to say that." Tifa said, "After what he did to you and your mother."

"It really does." I agreed, and Cloud nodded his head as well.

Again shaking her head, Aeris said "I don't see it that way. He's a twisted evil little man. And little is the term that matters. He's got to be stopped eventually, to spare the pain of others he might experiment on, and to prevent him from maybe creating something even worse than Sephiroth… But he's just not worth the trouble of getting all riled up over."

We reached the town's inn. Inside, the clerk assured us that our rooms were already paid for by Barrett. We gathered in the large common room and I eyed the bathroom door, mischievous thoughts running through my mind of opening it to reveal Barrett preening about in the sailor suit he claimed to hate. In the end, I decided not to. He still didn't particularly like me, after all, and I saw no reason to make it worse…

OOOOOOO

The next morning we headed west, across the narrow grasslands and into the foothills of the Corel Mountains. As the sun was setting that evening we reached the base of the first serious incline, where a traveller was resting. "Hey you!" He called out as we approached.

"Can we help you?" Cloud asked.

"Nah, not me. I'm fine. Goin' the other way. I just wanted to warn you that it's dangerous up ahead. Steep cliffs, narrow paths. There's a constant risk of avalanches, and then of course there's so many old mine shafts underfoot you can have cave-ins with no warning."

"I'm from Corel." Barrett told the man. "Used to work the mines. They'll be safe enough in these mountains with me around."

"Ahh. That's good then." The traveller got to his feet. "I'd best keep moving, need to be at Costa Del Sol by morning. Listen, keep your eyes open for anyone else will you? The other day I tried to warn another guy going your way but he just ignored me."

"What did this guy look like?" Cloud asked.

"Oh, I dunno… Big guy, long silver hair. Black trench coat."

Tifa's eyes narrowed. "Sephiroth…"

Shocked expression on his face, the traveller exclaimed "Sephiroth? That was him? _The _General Sephiroth from the Wutai War? Wow! What'dya think you'll do if you catch up to him?"

"Kill him." Tifa answered bluntly.

Stunned by such an answer, the man began to back away slowly while babbling. "Oh. Well… Good luck with that I guess… I'll just be leaving now… Good day." He turned and ran.

Watching the traveller run, I couldn't help but laugh, and soon Aeris and Yuffie were also laughing, followed by Barrett and Cloud. Only Red remained stoic. "You do _so_ have a way with people Teef." Cloud said.

"Let's keep moving." Barrett said. "There are plenty of mine shafts up ahead. We can camp at the entrance of one…"


	10. Angry Birds

Standard Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy, Green Lantern, or any of their related characters and concepts. This is a work of fan fiction.

"Courage To Change The Things You Can"

Chapter Ten: "Angry Birds"

At dusk, we found the entrance to an abandoned coal mine and set up camp for the night. The winds echoed through the mountain passes, creating a hollow sound that made you think of cold winter nights, though in fact the temperature was mild. We were all seated around the campfire, when Red asked "How far to North Corel?"

"Not too far." Barrett answered. "Less than ten miles as the crow flies. 'O course, we'll have a lot further to go than that, what with all the climbing up and down, and going around mountains in the way. Plus, that guy Teef scared back on the road was right: we've got to go slow, to avoid the risk of avalanches and cave-ins."

"How long will it take to get there, then?" Tifa asked.

Barrett replied "Hard to say for sure. A few days, at least. Longer if we actually get caught in something bad."

"Aw man…" Yuffie complained. "Let's just plow through full speed and cross our fingers nothing happens."

"Would you actually risk dying in a cave-in just to maybe save a couple days?" Aeris asked her. "Safe and slow is the way to do this."

Cloud agreed. "Absolutely. We need all the help we can get when we finally catch up to Sephiroth again. It's better to delay that encounter and have everyone ready to fight than run into him with people hurt or missing."

There was silence for a time, then I said "So… Barrett… This North Corel is your hometown?"

"Yeah."

"You don't seem happy about it." Yuffie said. "If I was almost home to Wutai, I'd be ecstatic."

"I ain't you and this ain't Wutai." Barrett grumbled.

"Yikes." Yuffie mumbled. "I was just making conversation…"

Barrett didn't answer. He simply got up and walked away, into the night. Tifa followed.

OOOOOOO

=== Begin Third-Person P.O.V. – Tifa ===

Barrett hadn't gone far. Tifa found him less than a hundred feet away, around the corner of a ledge, fuming silently. "You alright?" she asked.

"Hell no I'm not alright! Bad enough I've gotta come back here… Now I got ninja-girl bugging me for personal stuff…"

"As obnoxious as I find her too, I don't think you can fault Yuffie on this one." Tifa said. "She really was just making conversation. Look, Barrett… You know everyone else is going to find out the whole story of what happened in Corel. Why not just tell them yourself?"

"I don't talk about this stuff." Barrett almost shouted.

"Not even to Marlene?" Tifa asked. Barrett stared at her, but she continued "She's going to want to know sooner or later. And she has a right to know. Are you just going to blow off her questions too?"

Sighing, Barrett finally admitted "No… No, you're right… But that's still different. Marlene's from Corel, same as me. She's a part of it, even if she's too young to remember…"

"Exactly." Tifa insisted. "You and Marlene are a part of Corel. And Corel is a part of what's happening to the entire world. And everyone sitting around that fire is a part of the world and has their own story, like Corel's story, that's a part of the bigger whole… Cloud and I have Nibelheim. Aeris has what happened to the Cetra and she and Red have what Hojo tried to do to them. Even Yuffie has what Shinra and Soldier did to Wutai in the war, and Christian has… well… something to do with Sephiroth killing someone he cared about… I don't know the details…"

"I still don't trust that guy." Barrett grumbled. "But, I understand your point… We all on the same train… and there ain't no getting' off, so we might as well be honest with each other and work together…"

"Exactly." Tifa smiled. "So, you coming back or not?"

"Yeah… Just don't push. I'll tell them when I'm good an' ready."

"Deal."

OOOOOOO

=== Resume First-Person P.O.V. ===

As we readied ourselves to continue the next morning, Barrett said "Listen up, there's something important you need to know before we go any further. There's a type of monster in these mountains called a cockatrice. They not that tough, but they move in big groups, and they can cast a spell called Stone. Spell does exactly what the name implies. You get hit, you can't move, you whole body's covered in a layer of stone, like you was a statue."

"That's nasty." Cloud said. "It's not lethal is it?"

"Nah… But it takes forever to wear off on it's own. One of us gets hit with it, we'll be stuck there for quite awhile."

"Is there a cure?" Aeris asked.

"Yeah, this." Barrett produced a bottle of Soft from his satchel. "Thing is, it takes a whole bottle to cure a person, and I only had the gil to buy five of 'em. So let's just be careful, alright?"

"Perhaps Aeris can be of assistance if we run out of medicine." Red said. "She has already demonstrated her Cetra heritage in an impressive healing ability…"

"I wish I could Red." Aeris answered. "But Healing Wind only works on actual physical injuries… Stuff like poison, or sleeping spells, or this stone thing wouldn't be affected."

"Unfortunate." Red said.

"Yeah… Now, I can just remember my real mother using some more advanced technique, 'Breath of the Earth' I think it was called, to deal with things like this… But I've not managed to use that one yet… Given my mixed heritage, I'm not even sure if I can."

"Think positive." I said. "I'm sure you've got it in you."

"Less talkin' more walkin.'" Barrett shouted. We followed as he led the way further into the mountains.

As Barrett had predicted, travel through the Corel Mountains was a slow, difficult affair. The inclines were steep, the winds whipped about the peaks in furious gusts that threatened to throw you out into the abyss at a moment's notice, and everywhere the trail was interrupted by deep sinkholes created by collapsed mine shafts below. Near the end of the day, we caught sight of an old railroad bridge stretching across a deep wide valley between two peaks.

"Hey Barrett!" Yuffie shouted, why don't we take the high-road shortcut? It'll be a lot faster than hiking all the way down and back up."

"It'll be faster alright…" Barrett answered. "Either faster getting across, or else faster dyin' when it collapses and we fall to our deaths."

"Okay… forget I said anything…" Yuffie fumed.

"Don't be like that Yuff." I said to her. "Barrett's just being careful. Really, you're both right. You're right that it would be a good idea if it were safe, and Barrett's right that we can't know for sure if it's safe or not."

"Well…"

"Hey! Look up there! What's that?" Tifa called out. On a ledge above, there was something glowing. We carefully climbed up to check it out and were greeted by the sight of a bird's nest full of baby chicks.

"Aw! How cute!" Aeris exclaimed.

"Yeah." Tifa agreed. "I wonder what kind of birds they are?"

"Cockatrice hatchlings." Barrett said. "Too young to be dangerous themselves, but we'd best move out fast… Babies this young, mama and papa won't be far off."

"Hold on a sec." Yuffie said. She stared into the nest, at the soft, glowing bedding underneath the chicks. "Is that what I think it is?"

Red answered "Indeed. Phoenix down feathers. Cockatrices line their nests with them."

An evil, mischievous grin spread across Yuffie's face. "Jackpot." She declared, and started to reach in for the feathers.

I moved to stop her, but Aeris beat me to it, grabbing Yuffie's outstretched hand and stating firmly "Absolutely not."

"She's right Yuffie." I said. "Quite aside from the fact that it'd be wrong to disturb innocent harmless babies, you'd bring down the wrath of their parents. Didn't you hear Barrett's warning about these birds?"

"You don't wanna tangle with these things." Barrett repeated.

"Let's just go." Cloud said, and started down the slope.

Red, Tifa, Aeris, and myself stared at Yuffie until she let out an overbearing, exasperated sigh and said "Oh all right! Geez, what's the big deal anyway, it's just some dumb old birds…" We waited until she was all the way back down to the trail before following.

In the dim light of the setting sun, we arrived at the location where the railroad bridge met our mountain, and found another mine shaft entrance directly across from it. Given that night was falling quickly, Barrett insisted we make camp for the night…

OOOOOOO

We arose early the next morning and made ready to continue on. As Cloud was putting out the campfire, Red noticed something. "Where is Yuffie?" he asked.

"I've not seen her." I answered. "But I'm sure she can't have gone far… Aw no…"

Aeris and Tifa looked up towards me, realizing what I was thinking. "She couldn't have…" Aeris said.

"Even she wouldn't have…" Tifa started to agree.

A high pitched scream for help echoed through the mountains. "She did." Everyone said in unison.

Moments later, Yuffie appeared from around a bend in the trail, running for all she was worth as a whole family of adult Cockatrices bore down behind her, squawking angrily. "Little help here guys?" she screamed as she approached.

"Who's for just letting them stone her and going on our way?" Tifa asked. Cloud and I raised our hands, and Red raised a forepaw.

Shaking his head, Barrett answered "Too late for that. Long as she's been travelling with us, they'll have gotten our scents off of her and marked us as threats too."

"But we can't kill them!" Aeris objected. "I mean, sure, we've fought and killed a lot of monsters but this is different! They're just defending their babies…"

Before anyone could answer, Yuffie reached camp and would have kept running, but right then a Stone spell hit home and she was frozen in place. "Run for it!" Barrett exclaimed. "We can't fight this many with only five Softs." He threw one at Yuffie, and when it hit the glass bottle shattered, spilling the medicine out and healing her. "Four." He corrected.

As we started to run, a major gust of wind blew through the mountain pass, and gave Red an idea. "We need to risk the old railroad bridge!" he said. "The birds, being in the air, will be more hindered by the high winds than we will!"

A cockatrice dove towards Cloud, who dispatched it with ease, only to find half a dozen more streaking towards him. Barrett thinned the flock with a burst of gunfire. "Sorry Aer!" he shouted. "But it's them or us!"

Aeris reached the head of the bridge and turned around. "I guess so… Still… Christian, cover me for a minute!" She started rearranging the materia in her staff.

I stepped into the gap between Aeris and the rampaging birds and did my best to fend them off without actually hurting them too badly. To my right, Yuffie yelped as she was hit with another Stone spell, then Cloud was struck too.

"Goddamnit!" Barrett swore. "We'll be down ta two after this! Let's move people!" He pulled a pair of Softs from his satchel, but before he could use them a Stone spell struck him as well.

"That's not good!" I exclaimed. "Hey, what happens if these birds stone all of us? Do they just go away?"

"Hardly." Red replied. "They like their food… …crunchy."

I was ready to swear whether Aeris liked it or not, when from behind me I heard her say "Ready!" She swung her staff into the ready position she used when casting spells and let go. The staff hovered in place and green light flared around, accompanied by a swirling wind. In the staff, A green materia crystal lit up, shining brightly, and then the blue in it's linked slot flared to life as well. With an outstretched arm, she released the spell's energy, which flowed out and instantly put all of the birds to sleep.

"So much for status spells being gimpy." I thought.

"Excellent." Red said, looking about. "But it won't last long. We need to move quickly."

Aeris nodded, but said "That's going to be tricky. Look, they got Cloud, Barrett, and Yuffie. And Barrett has all the Softs, so it's not an option."

"Neither is waiting." Tifa said. "The birds will be awake before the stone effect wears off."

"I am troubled to say it." Red said, "But we may need to dispatch the birds one at a time before they wake up."

"I still don't like killing something for protecting it's family." Aeris argued.

"Me either…" I said. I looked down at Red. "I don't suppose your bottomless-mystery-pit-of-supplies has a few Softs in it?"

"I fear not."

"Nuts… Aeris?" I asked, thinking of Breath of the Earth.

"I know what you're gonna ask. I don't know if I can."

"You've got to try. It's the only shot we've got."

"I guess so… But, I don't even know how to start the attempt."

"Calm your mind." Red said. 'Narrow your focus. Think about what you did when you first used Healing Wind…"

"Alright…" Aeris agreed, eyes closed. After a moment, she held out her staff, let go, and started to say "Breath…" She faltered and snatched the staff from the air before it could fall. "No. There's something there but…"

"Try again." Red encouraged her.

On the second attempt, she again got no further than the word, but this time there was also a brief shimmering of light and a faint wind whistled around us. I reached out, took her staff, and planted it firmly in the ground standing up, then took her right hand in mine. "Teef, other hand please?" I asked. As Tifa took Aeris' left hand, I said "We're here with you. You can do this."

"We believe in you." Tifa agreed.

Red nodded. "We all do."

Aeris closed her eyes again and nodded intently. "Alright…" Her brow furrowed with concentration, and after a brief lull the staff shuddered and tore out of the ground, floating in front of it's owner. Light shimmered brightly around Aeris, then the rest of the group. "Breath of the Earth!" She exclaimed, and brighter swirls of greenish light flowed around each of the Stone afflicted party members, healing them in moments.

Exhausted by the potent move she had never performed before, Aeris slumped backwards. I caught her and helped her stand while Tifa grabbed the staff as it fell. Smiling down at her, I said "Told you that you could do it."

"Heh… Thanks you guys." Aeris replied. She pulled herself back up and looked over to Cloud, Barrett, and Yuffie. "You three okay?"

"Fine." Cloud answered. He looked at the sleeping birds. "So… Bridge?"

"Yeah. Got no choice now." Barrett said. "Let's go."

Tifa took point, and as she went she shoved Yuffie aside and sarcastically murmured "Oh, it's just some dumb old birds… Idiot."

Cloud and Barrett said nothing as they passed Yuffie, but Red stopped long enough to look up at her and remark "I certainly hope this has been a learning experience for you."

As Aeris and I were passing her, Yuffie said "I'm never gonna live this down am I?"

"No." We said in unison, and continued on, leaving our properly chastised ninja to bring up the rear…


	11. Amusement Park Shootout!

Standard Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy, Green Lantern, or any of their related characters and concepts. This is a work of fan fiction.

"Courage To Change The Things You Can"

Chapter Eleven: "Amusement Park Shootout! (Film At Eleven)"

North Corel. Even now, years after the devastation wrought by Soldier, a stench of burning timber and spilt blood seemed to hang in the air. Everywhere you looked, there were only ramshackle structures cobbled together from the ruins, always on the verge of collapse. Barrett shook his head in disgust, Tifa looked ready to punch something, anything, to work out her anger with Shinra, and Aeris had tears in her eyes. "It's even worse than I expected." She whispered.

"Yeah." Barrett agreed. "When I left with Marlene, it wasn't quite this bad… The whole place is just sliding downhill, like the mountains are reclaiming it and swallowing it up one life at a time."

"What exactly happened here?" Red asked. "I understand that Shinra destroyed it, but I've not heard anything about their motivations for doing so."

"It's a long story." Barrett said. He slumped down onto a large chunk of broken concrete and dropped his satchel by his feet. "You saw the reactor we passed by yesterday… Well, a few years back, there was a big explosion there. Industrial accident, no one's fault. Hell, Avalanche didn't even exist yet back then. But Shinra refused to believe that. They thought it was terrorists. And they thought the people in Corel were hiding them."

"They destroyed the entire town over a few suspected terrorists?" Yuffie asked. "Wow… The more I learn the more I hate…"

"They didn't come right in shooting at first. They sent some Turks… Tseng, I think, and some girl whose name I never got. They said that they knew… actually said they KNEW… we were hiding the reactor bombers. Said all we had to do was give them up." Barrett sighed. "All this… It's all my fault…"

"No! Don't say that!" Tifa argued.

"Agreed. How could it possibly be your fault?" Red asked.

Barrett answered "Back then, I didn't realize just how evil Shinra was. I knew they were a little corrupt maybe, but I just figured that was like any big company. God help me, I even defended them to people at times. So, when we didn't turn over the bombers we didn't have to turn over, 'cause, y'know, they didn't exist, Soldier and the infantry started massing for an attack. We could see them from here."

"I'm still not following how this is your fault." I said.

"Yeah. So what if you didn't know how bad they were?" Cloud said. "A lot of people didn't. A lot of people still don't."

"You don't understand!" Barrett shouted. "When we saw the army getting ready to attack, a group of five men decided to save the rest of us by turning themselves in and pretending to be the bombers. But no, I had to be stupid! I was so sure it was a bluff, that they'd never attack innocent people… I talked those men out of their plan… And then the next day…"

"That's rough." Was all I could say.

"Barrett?" Aeris asked. "I think you're wrong to blame yourself here. Knowing what you do of Shinra now, don't you see that they still would have went through with the attack?"

Nodding, Cloud agreed. "She's right. Once they decided you were harboring fugitives, nothing would have stopped them from doing what they did. The men didn't turn themselves in, so they attacked to destroy the 'terrorists.' But if they had turned themselves in, Shinra would have still attacked in order to punish you, since they had 'proof' that they had been right."

Barrett swore, seeing at last that this was true. All of us, even Yuffie to my great surprise, stayed quiet, giving the man time to think. After perhaps twenty minutes, he rose to his feet and said "We'd best get moving. Not many people like me around here anymore… The faster we're through town the better."

"Wait… If we're not looking for Sephiroth in the town why did we come here?" Yuffie asked.

"Ever heard of the Gold Saucer?" Cloud asked her.

"Yeah. Some kind of big amusement park or something?"

"Biggest one in the world." Cloud answered back. "The tramway that takes guests in is located here in Corel."

"The Saucer's owner, Dio, chose Corel as the entry point specifically because he thought it might help the town recover." Barrett explained. "As you see, it didn't work."

"Alright!" Yuffie exclaimed loudly. "Fun 'n games, here we come!" When she realized everyone was staring at her angrily, she said "Oh. Right. Sorry. But c'mon, we've been busting our butts trying to do what's right haven't we? What's wrong with a little fun?"

OOOOOOO

We passed through Corel without incident and rode the gondola up to the park. It was an impressive ride, with the view down on the shifting sands of the desert and up to the Saucer itself. The central pillar that supported the various squares of the park was, I estimate, around four or five _hundred _stories tall. The saucer-shaped squares then extended out from it at various heights, with even the lowest being more than half-way up the tower, and all of them were around a quarter of a mile in diameter. Between the Midgar plate, Fort Junon, and now this place, it was undeniable that the state of architectural technology on Gaia was far greater than what I was used to on earth.

Anyway, we arrived at the entrance and hit a nasty snag when we found that the three thousand gil entry fee wasn't for all of us. It was three thousand each. There was much grumbling, but the needed gil was there, albeit almost everything we had. Once we were in, I made another discovery which shocked me: It turns out that the game designers weren't getting silly with the whole 'travel from square to square via oversized vacuum tubes' thing. That really was how the Saucer worked. Of course, you didn't just jump into an open hole in the floor; there were capsules with chairs in them.

We walked together into the main hub of the facility. Aeris rushed to the map and said "Wow! This place is amazing! I know it's wrong, but maybe Yuffie was right… As long as we're here, we should have a little fun."

"Fun!" Barrett exclaimed. "We here to find Sephiroth! Nothin' else!"

"C'mon Barrett…" Aeris answered, walking over and putting a hand on his shoulder. "I know you're upset, but we've been pushing hard for months now. What's a little relaxation?"

Barrett swore again and stormed off towards one of the transport tubes. "Have your fun then! Count me out of it."

"That might've been a little rough on him Aer…" Tifa said.

"Maybe… I thought it was best, that he'd come around."

Cloud said "Well, with Barrett off on his own, that leaves the six of us. I say we split into pairs and search the place top to bottom for Sephiroth. Have some fun if you want, but remember the reason we're here… And remember if you find him, do not fight: Get the rest of us together first."

"Alright!" Yuffie exclaimed. "Who's with me?"

"I'm going with Cloud." Tifa quickly said.

"And I'm with Christian." Aeris added.

"It appears I am to be your escort." Red said, glancing up at Yuffie. "Where shall we begin? Event square perhaps? I've always wanted to see a play…"

Yuffie followed Red, fuming and mumbling to herself, and as they went a pair of thoughts occurred to me: First, that Yuffie was probably only mad because she was paired with the only one of us she couldn't steal anything from (Even she hadn't figured out where he was storing all the stuff he carried,) and second that while Tifa undeniably wanted to go with Cloud herself, putting Yuffie in this situation was the main reason for her quick decision.

In any event, Cloud and Tifa immediately headed for the battle square. "Where should we go first?" Aeris asked me.

I eyed the tube to speed square and said "Roller coasters aren't my thing. How about we check out the Chocobo races?"

"Oh! Sounds fun! And maybe then we can check out the arcade afterwards!"

"Alright." I agreed. In truth, I wanted to see the wonder square arcade as well, but had put it off in the hopes of delaying the meeting with Cait Sith. We boarded the vacuum tube car to Chocobo square and were thrown back into our seats by the acceleration when it began moving.

OOOOOOO

We arrived at Chocobo square in only a couple of minutes, and walked towards the doors leading in when I saw something I had forgotten about. "Back!" I hissed and pushed myself and Aeris against the side wall at a spot that was fortunately deep in shadows.

"What are you doing?" She demanded.

"Shinra." I replied. "Look."

Aeris looked around from behind me and saw what I had: A troop of perhaps three dozen Shinra infantry, and their commanding officer. The C.O. was giving orders, though we were much too far away to hear his words. It took only a few minutes for him to dismiss the group, most of whom departed for other parts of the Saucer.

"They're even here." Aeris said. "But, at least it's just infantry and not Soldier."

"Yeah. Y'know, I'm less interested in the races now, with some of them still here."

"Me too… I didn't see any of them going to wonder square."

I sighed inwardly, but supposed it was unavoidable. "Alright. Let's go there then."

OOOOOOO

=== Begin Third-Person P.O.V. – Cloud ===

"The entry fee is how much!" Tifa exclaimed in shock.

"Sorry miss. But if you or your friend wish to fight in the Battle Square, you'll have to pay the full fee in advance. And yes, I know it seems steep for first-time visitors. But just go have some fun in the arcade, you'll rack up enough GP in no time."

"Sorry Teef." Cloud said. "I know you wanted to do this."

"It's alright." Tifa sighed. "Say, let's just do what he suggested. We've gotta check out the arcade anyway, right?"

"I seriously doubt we'll find Sephiroth at a pinball table." Cloud replied shaking his head.

Tifa laughed. "Yeah. He's probably more of a Lethal Combat fan." Cloud stared at her. "Oh c'mon, I'm kidding. But we've got to be thorough don't we?"

"I suppose so."

They arrived at Wonder Square shortly thereafter. As they approached the stairway leading into the actual arcade rooms, a strange creature approached. "Why hello! Would you like your fortunes read?"

"Our fortunes?" Cloud asked skeptically."

"But of course! I'm a fortune-telling machine that works here at the park. Name's Cait Sith, though you can call me whatever you like. So how about it? My fortunes are always reliable, and on top of that I can locate lost objects and even missing people!"

"Missing people eh?" Cloud asked. "Alright… I'll give you a chance. Where can we find a man named Sephiroth?"

"Sephiroth you say? One location coming up!" Cat and moogle both began to shake rapidly back and forth, then with the 'ding!' of a bell a scrap of paper popped out. "Here you are." Cait said handing Cloud the slip.

Cloud read the paper aloud. "'A wonderful time awaits after the summer, be ready for fun.' What the hell?"

"Whoops! Lemme try that again…"

OOOOOOO

=== Resume First-Person P.O.V. ===

Aeris and I arrived in Wonder Square just in time to meet Yuffie and Red also arriving. "I thought you were going to see a play?" Aeris asked.

"Yes… Sadly nothing is showing at the moment." Red answered.

"Have you seen the infantry soldiers running around?" I asked them. "There's quite a few that we saw a few minutes ago."

"Nothing as yet. But if Shinra is here we need to alert the others." Red said.

"Look! There's Cloud and Tifa over there!" Yuffie exclaimed. She ran towards them and the rest of us followed more slowly.

As we walked up, Cait was handing Cloud a slip of paper. "'You will have a splendid day, lucky color is blue.' Okay, I'm done."

"No wait! Wait! Gimme one more chance!" Cait pleaded. Cloud wasn't listening.

"What's this?" Aeris asked.

"It claims to be a fortune telling machine." Tifa told her, "But it's accuracy leaves much to be desired."

"Ooo! Read my fortune will you?" Aeris asked. "How much?"

"For a cutie like you, the charge is a smile!" Cait began shuddering as he prepared the next slip of paper.

Now, allow me to say here that, even though I'm not one to put much stock in fortune tellers, I tensed in fear of receiving the third fortune, the one that carried the warning of Aeris' death. I felt like screaming as Cait handed her the paper, which she unfurled and read silently before saying "What in the world…?"

"Here it comes…" I thought.

Aeris read the fortune aloud. "The Guardian's intent will be fulfilled, but his agent will suffer the dark night of the soul?" She looked at Cait, eyes wide. "What does that mean?"

"Hmm? Let me see that…" Cait took the paper back and read it. "That's odd. I've never seen anything like this before. You know, this could be good or bad couldn't it? Say, you folks are travelling somewhere aren't you? I think I'll tag along, I've never seen a fortune like this and I wanna see how it pans out."

"Tag along?" Cloud asked. "I don't think so…"

"Oh no? Well, it's not really your choice is it lad? I'm comin' and that's final." Cait argued back. Cloud threw up his hands in exasperation and walked away.

Listening to this exchange, I decided to maybe get an answer to something I had wondered about since playing the game. "Listen, even if we agreed, how is it possible for you to come with us?" I asked. "I mean, you're a machine. Don't you belong to the park? And how would you power yourself out in the wilds? Your batteries are gonna run down you know."

"Ah! Good questions laddie. First, no, the park doesn't own me. I'm freelance. And as for power, I don't have batteries. I'm fueled by a modified miniature mako reactor that draws power from a trio of mastered Bolt materia. Half-life is nearly a thousand years." Having finished his explanation, Cait turned and walked back to Cloud and Tifa.

Sitting next to me, Red said "A self-aware robot tough enough to fight and powered by the magical equivalent of a nuclear reactor… Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't science fiction usually take a dim view of such things?"

"Yeah." I agreed. "Somehow though, I never expected the apocalypse to be… …cute…"

"What in the world are you two talking about?" Yuffie demanded.

"Nerd humor." I answered. "Ignore us."

It was at that moment that a tube-car arrived and disgorged a crowd of running, screaming people. "What's going on?" Aeris wondered.

I had a strong feeling that I knew exactly what was happening, but said simply "Let's find out…" I grabbed one of the people and firmly insisted on an explanation.

"The Battle Square!" the man exclaimed. "Some guy, crazy guy, gun for an arm! He's shooting up the place, killin' people left and right!" Tearing free of my grasp, he ran on his way.

"Barrett…?" Yuffie wondered.

"No. No way." Aeris insisted. "I mean I know he was mad but…"

"Let's go!" Cloud shouted to us as he ran over with Tifa and Cait. "No way it's Barrett but we still need to check it out." Everyone crowded into a tube car and Cloud pressed the control for it to take us to the Battle Square. In only a few minutes we arrived. The carnage was over, but the aftermath remained, dead and dying bodies strewn about.

Before I could stop her, Aeris rushed forward and started trying to cure the wounded. I started to move, planning to stay close to her side, but before I made it a single step, I was clubbed over the head from behind and was out cold before hitting the floor…


	12. Corel Prison Blues

Standard Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy, Green Lantern, or any of their related characters and concepts. This is a work of fan fiction.

"Courage To Change The Things You Can"

Chapter Twelve: "Corel Prison Blues"

I came to lying atop a dingy couch in a one-room shack that seemed to barely be managing to stay standing. I wasn't entirely sure what had happened, and asked "Where are we anyway?"

"Corel Prison laddie." Replied a voice I couldn't place at first. Sitting up, I needed perhaps half a minute to focus my eyes, at which point I saw Cait Sith, who I recognized as the voice which had spoken, Aeris, and Yuffie.

"Are you okay?" Aeris asked, sitting down by my side. "Those security guards really knocked your head good."

"I'll be fine, I guess. What about you? Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Nobody hit me, they just slapped cuffs on me and threw me down that chute with everyone else."

"Speaking of that, where is everyone else?" Before Aeris could answer, the door slammed open and Barrett entered, cursing, followed by Cloud, Tifa, and Red.

"It's none of y'all's business!" Barrett shouted. "Hell, I tol ya not to follow me!"

"We've been thrown in jail over it Barrett." Tifa said calmly. "That makes it our business."

"Understand that I truly believe this to not be the kind of thing you would be capable of…" Red said. "Nevertheless, under the circumstances, someone needs to ask, so I will: Did you kill those people?"

"No…" Barrett replied. "No, it wasn't me…"

Yuffie said "But the people in the park said it was a man with a gun on his arm…"

Everyone stared, and when it seemed that Yuffie wasn't going to get an answer Aeris said softly "Barrett…?"

Barrett sighed deeply. "There's… There's another man with a gun-arm… Though, his is the left arm instead of the right… I didn't tell you everything about what happened in Corel the day it was burned…"

When Barrett fell silent again, Tifa put a hand on his shoulder and said "Take your time."

A moment later, Barrett continued his story. "Remember I told you about how I talked the men who were going to turn themselves in out of doing so? Well, I was so sure Shinra was bluffing that later that day I went on an overnight trip to see a new reactor being built. I took one of those men with me, man name of Dyne. He was my best friend, back then. He's… He's Marlene's real father… Anyway, we were coming home the next day when we got word of what was happening in Corel. We started running back towards town, and then…" Barrett stopped, unable to go on.

A few minutes later, he recovered enough to keep telling the story. "We never made it all the way back to Corel. As we were approaching a bridge, soldiers showed up and shot the old man who bought us the news. Dyne and I tried to run, but he slipped and almost fell over the edge of a cliff. I caught him, his left hand in my right, and then they started shooting at us again. I was hit, just above the right wrist. I couldn't hold on, and Dyne fell. That was the last I saw of him. I found Marlene, barely more than a newborn, in her dead mother's arms and bought her with me to Midgar. At first, I replaced the arm with a prosthetic hand, then I got this gun when Avalanche started up…"

"But what about Dyne?" Cloud asked. "You think he's alive? Why?"

"When I got the gun, the doctor told me about another man who also got one, for his left hand. Between the timing, and the description the doctor gave me, and the fact that it was the _left _hand, I knew it had to be Dyne. But I've not actually seen or heard anything from him…"

"Why would he attack and kill all those innocent people?" Aeris wondered.

"Good question." I said. "Barrett, I know this is a friend of yours… And I know you're probably hoping he'll join up with us… But I'd be careful if I were you."

"Ah what'd you know?" Barrett answered. "Still… I do gotta find him. If nothin' else, I gotta apologize, try to make things right… Hell, he probably doesn't even know Marlene's alive. I can't let that go." Tifa started to say that we would go along, but Barrett refused. "No! I gotta do this myself!" He insisted.

"If you want talk to Dyne yourself, you can." Cloud said. "We'll give you all the space you need once we find the man. But I'm not letting you go alone and die. I'd have nightmares the rest of my life if that happened."

"Maybe we should split up." I suggested. "After all, we've got two important tasks here: Finding Dyne, and figuring out a way out of this stupid prison…"

"Good." Cloud agreed. "Teef, Red, and I will go with Barrett, while Christian, Aeris, and Cait can find the prison warden and try to convince him that we're innocent."

Everyone nodded in agreement, except for Yuffie who loudly asked "Which group am I with then?"

An awkward silence followed the question. I'm pretty sure we were all thinking the same thing, that the girl's obnoxiousness could prove disastrous to either group's mission. Yet, we also didn't dare to leave her alone with nothing to do. Idle hands and all. A lightbulb went on over my head. I tossed Yuffie both of our enemy skill materia and said "As I was waking up, I heard something outside that sounded like the engine of a Bull Motor…"

"Yeah." Yuffie nodded. "There's a lot of them around here. They're not that tough though, why?"

"Take those materia and go to town on the Motors. They've got a spell called Laser that can be absorbed and learned by E. S."

"Awesome!" Yuffie exclaimed. She practically skipped out the door.

"And that, my friends, is how you make a problem go away."

"Nice work." Tifa said laughing.

Oblivious of my reasoning, Cait said "Bull Motors almost never use that spell willingly. If she had waited, I could have given her my Manipulate materia…"

"You'll learn quickly that we want Yuffie preoccupied." I told him.

"Enough talk." Cloud said. "Let's get this over with so we can get back on Sephiroth's trail…"

OOOOOOO

On our way to the warden's office, I kept a close watch on the other prisoners. Most of them were eyeing us, for the most part considering what kind of valuables we might be carrying, though more than a few were looking a little too closely at Aeris for my comfort. Having been raised in the dangerous Midgar slums, she wasn't oblivious to the lecherous attention and stayed close by my side, staff at the ready.

Luckily, no one tried to attack us, and I noticed the reason why pretty quickly. "That's odd…" I whispered, "All of these other prisoners have makeshift weapons they've put together from all the junk lying around, but they left us with our weapons?"

"Not really." Aeris whispered back. "Take a good look. These are our old weapons, the ones we were using before Junon. Red had them stored away, um, wherever it is he's keeping everything. He produced them when no one was looking, I turned around and there everything was lying on a tabletop."

I shook my head. "We have GOT to figure that out…"

"Priorities laddie." Cait said. "The Warden's office is just up ahead."

"What do you suppose the odds of them letting us out are?" Aeris wondered.

"Well, I would hope they would have to if we can prove our innocence." I replied. "Cait? You've been around the saucer for awhile right? How's this usually work?"

"Well lad, it's hard to say. I can tell you this much though: Only one guy ever escaped this prison."

"That's not encouraging."

"No lad, it's not."

"Well, here we are." Aeris said. "Let's find out what's what…"

OOOOOOO

=== Begin Third-Person P.O.V. – Barrett ===

"There he is." Barrett whispered to Cloud and Tifa. "Remember now, you stay out of this… It's between me and Dyne, no one else…"

"We understand Barrett." Tifa said. "We don't like it though."

"Don't hafta like it. Jus' do it."

Barrett slowly and quietly approached Dyne, who was facing the other way, looking out over a desert ravine. "Dyne?"

"I know that voice…" Dyne said without turning around. "It's been a long time…"

Dyne turned to face Barrett. "Do you hear that? Do you hear Eleanor's voice?"

Barrett shook his head sadly. "I don't hear anything Dyne… What's she sayin' to you?"

"She's begging me not to hate your rotten guts! You're the reason she's dead! Eleanor, Marlene, everyone!"

"No!" Barrett held up his hand. "No, Dyne, Marlene's not dead. I found her after you fell, got her safe in Midgar, with the mother of a friend. She's fine Dyne! Listen, why don't you and me go to see her?"

Dyne screamed loudly and fired his gun-arm at the ground in front of Barrett's feet. "She shouldn't be here Barrett. Marlene belongs with her mother, don't you think? Don't you see how lonely Eleanor must be without her? Where is she Barrett? I've got to send her to be with her mother!"

Barrett realized with horror what Dyne was suggesting. "What's happened to you man?" he barely more than whispered. "You were a good man!"

Dyne began to laugh, a cold laugh with an edge of insanity behind it. "What happened? What happened? You can ask that? YOU happened Barrett! They'd still be together if it hadn't been for you!" Dyne fired another blast in Barrett's direction, not a warning this time. Barrett dived to the side out of the way.

Behind Barrett, Cloud, Tifa, and Red were moving to join in. Barrett waved them off. "I said NO!" he shouted. "This is my fight. Mine alone."

The battle was short. Each man took shots at the other while using piles of debris as cover. Dyne's gun used a larger caliber of bullet, which had enough impact to go right through the metal junk and still do damage on the other side. Barrett still had the 'elemental-fire' materia combination in his gun from the Jenova battle weeks before. The fire effect added to his bullets melted through steel and ignited small amounts of fuel left in the wrecked vehicles.

Barrett could have used magic, of course, but he just couldn't bring himself to do that to a friend, even if that friend had gone over the deep end. In the end, the effects of a fire spell were achieved anyway, when one of the wrecked cars between Barrett and Dyne took a fire bullet in exactly the right spot and didn't just catch fire, but exploded. Dyne took the brunt of the blast, and stumbled away to the edge of the ravine.

Barrett cautiously followed and was about to cast a cure spell when Dyne held up a hand, signaling for him to stop. With his good right hand, Dyne pulled something from a pocket. "Barrett? Do you recognize this?"

Nodding, Barrett answered "Eleanor's pendant. I remember, I remember she never took that thing off."

"Yeah." Dyne agreed. He tossed it to Barrett. "I want Marlene to have it."

"Of course… But, Dyne, c'mon man… You can give it to her yourself! Come on away from that cliff now…"

"It's too late for that Barrett." Dyne answered. He looked down at the palm of his hand. "This hand… It's got too much blood on it now… I don't deserve to touch her ever again… And, I can't leave Eleanor all alone any longer…"

Barrett shouted for Dyne to stop, but it was too late. The man threw himself over the edge, falling to his death…

OOOOOOO

=== Resume First-Person P.O.V. ===

The Warden's office wasn't what I had expected. It was in better shape than the rest of the prison's structures, but only by a thin margin. There was no secretary, so the warden himself greeted us, then said "You're covered by a dozen automated guns. Please put your weapons down if you really just wish to talk. Don't worry, I'll let you take them back when you leave; regulations aside, I'm not turning anyone out there unarmed."

We did as instructed, then Aeris and I took seats while Cait remained standing. "Now, we've not met yet so I'll tell you my name is Coates, and as you already know I'm the Warden hereabouts. So, what did you need to discuss?"

"The long and short of it is that we want to know how you can justify locking up innocent people. Only one member of our group could have possibly had anything to do with that, and it wasn't him… And even if it was him, the rest of us aren't a part of it. Hell, this guy…" (I pointed to Cait) "…This guy, we only met him, like, ten minutes beforehand."

"I see…" Warden Coates answered. "First, please understand that I just work down here. I have nothing to do with what happens up top. That said, if you can convince me of your innocence I will be more than happy to release you. Though…"

"What's wrong?" Aeris asked.

Coats sighed. "It's like this: You know that this place is just a prison for those who commit crimes in the park. That means that Dio has a big say in how the prison is run. Now, he's a fair man in most ways, but that park is his baby, and as a result he's got some rather odd rules for how we have to do things."

Aeris gave me a wary look, and even though I already knew what was coming I asked "Odd how? What do we need to do?"

"You… Or at least one of you, I'm sure I can convince them to allow one participant to represent your whole group, will need to go up top and participate in the Chocobo races. To get out, even if you're innocent, you'll need to win a race."

"What?" Aeris exclaimed. She was in that rare mode of actually being angry enough to show it. "Are you crazy? Those are professional jockeys up there aren't they? How is one of us supposed to win?"

Holding up his hands in a pleading manner, Coates said "Look… I'm gonna level with you here. I already suspect that you're innocent, because I'm pretty sure I know who actually did it. I've got a gun-armed prisoner down here, name of Dyne. I sent him up top to race. It should have been safe, we removed all the ammo from him when he was dropped here. I guess he got more somehow. Anyway, I'm gonna do what I can to make it right: I'll have your volunteer set-up with the best bird available, and put in a lower-tier race. Even without experience jockeying, you'll have a good shot that way. All I ask from you is some kind of proof that it really was him."

"You want proof? You got it right here!" Barrett bellowed loudly as he barged into the office. He held up a pendant. "This belonged to Dyne. I'm takin' it to his daughter, first chance I get!"

"So Dyne is dead then…" Coates mused. "He has to be, there's no way you'd have that otherwise. But, I'm confused… How does you having the pendant prove Dyne's guilt?"

Stepping in behind Barrett, Tifa said "It doesn't. But these do." She threw a pair of bullets down on Coates' desk. The two were quite different sizes. She said "Try to fit the larger of those in Barrett's gun-arm. You'll never do it. But it fit Dyne's gun perfectly. And it's the caliber that was used in the attack upstairs."

"Alright then…" Coates said after a moment. "I'm declaring you innocent. If you'll give me a moment, I'll phone the park and let them know what's going on." He picked up his phone and started to dial, then stopped and asked "Oh, which one of you will be riding in the race?"

"Which one of us will be _WHAT_?" Tifa asked…


	13. South to Gongaga

Standard Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy, Green Lantern, or any of their related characters and concepts. This is a work of fan fiction.

"Courage To Change The Things You Can"

Chapter 13: "South to Gongaga"

After Warden Coates convinced Cloud to ride in the chocobo races, I was surprised to discover that unlike the game, they didn't force the rest of us to wait in the prison itself until the race was over. While we were guarded, the entire party was allowed to go back up top in order to watch the race firsthand. We were placed in a small booth with guards outside the door. At the front of the booth was an enormous window looking down onto the track.

After perhaps fifteen minutes, Esther came to speak with us. "Your friend is all set and ready." She said. "The race starts in five minutes."

"Cloud's never raced before…" Tifa complained. "Do you really think he's got a chance?"

"Oh yes. I've given him the fastest, smartest chocobo the park owns, and this is a fifth-seed race, so everyone else will be riding slow, dumpy, kind of dumb birds. He'll win easily."

"I think they just want us to leave before we embarrass them for the false arrest, but they still won't break their own rules." Aeris said.

"Aye lass." Cait agreed. "That fits Dio to a tee."

"Where is this Dio anyway?" Barrett grumbled. "Man should apologize in person."

"Mister Dio is a very busy man." Esther answered. "But I think he's left a note for you all once Cloud wins the race."

OOOOOOO

The race started on schedule, and it was quickly apparent that Ester was almost correct: Of the seven other birds Cloud was racing against, six were slow, dumpy, and proved no threat whatsoever. The seventh though, was a different tale. That particular bird was quick and aggressive, and it's jockey was the same. Cloud pushed hard at the first, seeking to gain a lead, but seemed to see the error of trying to push all the way and backed off slightly. This gave his rival the lead, to the dismay of our entire group, except for Red.

"Don't worry just yet." Red said. "Cloud is exercising good judgment here. If that other jockey keeps pushing the way he is, his bird will become exhausted soon. Cloud will then be able to pass him by."

Yuffie replied "I hope so. I really don't wanna have to go back to that prison."

"I doubt that'll happen lass. Most likely they'll just keep us locked in here until Cloud does win a race."

"If worse comes to worse, I'm sure Red can produce a few grenades out of nowhere." I said. "These walls don't look very tough…"

"No." Red agreed. "They don't. Let's keep that for a last resort though, shall we?"

"Look!" Tifa exclaimed. "Red called it, the other fast choco is slowing down!"

Everyone crowded back to the window and watched as Cloud sailed past the now weak chocobo and it's angry jockey, and rushed to the finish line.

"He did it!" Yuffie shouted.

"Choco-head wins a choco-race…" Barrett laughed. "We can't even let him live that down y'all…"

The doors opened and one of our guards stepped in. "Message from Mister Dio: Your friend has won, so you're free to go. If you'll come with me, I'll show you to the locker rooms so you can congratulate him..."

OOOOOOO

We met Cloud just outside the locker rooms a few minutes later. Barrett and I shook his hand and all three of the ladies hugged him. Red remained, as always, aloof, and Cait simply danced atop his moogle. Esther congratulated Cloud heartily and offered to represent him if he ever decided to race professionally. "Oh, and I'm supposed to give you this!" she said, handing him an envelope.

As Ester walked away, Cloud opened the envelope and read the letter aloud. "Cloud, congratulations on a well-earned victory, and on gaining your freedom as well. I hope there are no hard feelings, and to make things up I've arranged a parting gift for you and your friends. You'll find it down in the garage level, just ask anyone working down there. By the way, I understand you are looking for Sephiroth. He was here a few days ago, actually. I spoke with him myself, but couldn't help him out. He said he was looking for some kind of 'black materia.' Heh, I didn't know materia came in black. Anyway, he's heading south, towards Gongaga. Yours truly, Dio."

"Black materia?" Tifa repeated. She looked at Aeris. "Any idea?"

"None." Aeris answered. She removed the white materia from her ribbon and held it in her hands. "Sounds like maybe an opposite to this. But then, I don't even know what this one is supposed to do, if it even does anything."

As Aeris returned the materia to her ribbon, Red said "The white materia _must_ do something… Why else would your ancestors have so carefully preserved it?"

"I don't know…" Aeris admitted. "In a way, I always just thought of it as a family heirloom. The only thing I have left of my real mother."

"That said, we have a serious concern." I said. "Whatever this black materia is for, connected to the white or not, if Sephiroth wants it, it needs to be kept away from him."

Cloud was nodding in agreement. "Absolutely. Come on, let's go see what Dio left for us in the garages…"

OOOOOOO

The buggy was quite impressive. If you're envisioning some kind of small rickety dune-buggy, think again. This was more like an eight-wheeled all-terrain R.V. bigger than most rock-band tour busses. "Damn." Barrett said after a moment.

"Yeah… I am officially impressed." Yuffie agreed.

"Let's check out the inside." I suggested.

Inside, the vehicle was divided into five compartments. At the front was the driver's cockpit. Behind that was a large common area with a small kitchen, followed by a sleeping area with twelve bed nooks set into the walls. Behind that was a washroom, and then the engine compartment.

Cloud climbed into the driver's seat and started the engine. "The controls look easy enough." He said. "We can all take turns driving. Well… except for Red… "

"No thumbs." Red agreed. "And I'm not sure Cait's moogle would fit in the seat."

"I'll drive!" Yuffie declared enthusiastically.

We all looked at each other, at Yuffie, and back at each other. "So, no turn for Yuffie either." Cloud said.

"HEY!"

"Anyhow, let's get this thing moving. With luck we'll be able to catch up to Sephiroth now…"

OOOOOOO

The drive south was smooth and uneventful. After a few days in the wilds we drew near to Gongaga. Cloud was again driving when we came to the edge of the dense jungles surrounding the village. He pulled to a stop and switched off the engine. "This is it. Jungle's too thick for the buggy, we'll need to go the rest of the way into town on foot."

"Right." Barrett agreed. "Everybody up and at 'em!"

As we exited the buggy and started into the jungle, Tifa said "I feel the need to bring this up: Should we be bothering with stopping here? I mean, Gongaga is a tiny out the way of nowhere village… Sephiroth probably didn't even come here, he could've headed west towards Cosmo Canyon and the Nibel region."

"Probably he did." Cloud said. "But, really, do we want to risk having him coming up behind us? We'll lose less than a day here."

"Fair enough." Tifa agreed.

Not quite an hour later we rounded a bend in the narrow dirt road and the Turks were there, right in front of us. "Well well, look what we gots here yo." Reno chuckled. "Elena, go tells the boss he was right."

"Reno." Cloud said. "What are you doing here?"

"Yeah, I mean seriously, Gongaga? I would've thought an out of the way place like this was beneath the Turk's attention." I added.

"You mind your business and we'll mind ours yo? But then, catching you is a part of our business, so I guess we gots to fight…" Reno extended his mag-rod and flung a bolt at Cloud, who was thrown back against a tree.

Angry, Tifa charged him and grabbed for the rod, intending to break it in two. Reno juked backwards and avoided her, but this meant that he didn't see Red coming. The Turk was flat-out on his back, the rod flying high into the air before falling back to the ground. When it hit, it discharged a bolt directly at Rude, who barely avoided the blast. "Damn it Reno, how many times have I told you to build a safety into that thing?" He shouted.

With a swift movement I didn't quite follow, Reno flung Red off of his back and got to his feet once more. He sidestepped Yuffie's boomerang and attempted to retrieve his mag-rod, but Barrett filled the air between Reno and his weapon with a hail of bullets. Meanwhile, Tifa had switched her main target to Rude and was engaged in an impressive exchange of kicks and punches with her nearly-equal opponent.

I drew my sword and charged Reno. Lacking his weapon, the Turk wasn't foolish enough to face a blade unarmed and ran for it. He dodged behind Rude and tried to aid his partner with a cure spell, then made another dive for his rod. This time, he made it, but as he rose and took aim, Cloud returned to the fray, leaping in and slicing cleanly through the rod, which sparked and sputtered.

"Aw man!" Reno whined. "Do you have any idea how much these things cost yo?"

Both Turks stepped back and, side by side, started casting attack spells. They didn't get far, for from behind me I heard the sound of Aeris' voice: "Seal Evil!" Silenced but not stopped, the men realized they were beaten and ran for it.

"Can you believe those two?" Yuffie said.

I simply shook my head, but Tifa said "Okay. I take back what I said earlier. Sephiroth here or not, I'm glad we stopped. I wanna know what Shinra is up to here."

"There's a reactor here isn't there?" I asked innocently. "Maybe we should check it out."

OOOOOOO

Another ten minutes bought us to the reactor which, as in-game, was a shattered ruin. "Damn. What the hell happened here?" Barrett wondered.

When no one else said anything, I decided to fill in some blanks. I said "Nuts, I had forgotten 'til now, but I read about this somewhere… This place blew up a few years ago. Shinra blamed faulty construction materials, as I recall."

"And they didn't rebuild?" Aeris asked.

Cait said "There was something about the blame being put on the people of Gongaga itself lass. I guess Shinra decided that it was the town's fault that the construction materials were defective, so they've refused to rebuild, or even clean up, until the town pays it's debt."

Barrett shook angrily as Cloud said "Let's go into town."

We heard the voices before we could start to leave. Taking shelter, we watched as Tseng and Scarlet appeared and examined the reactor. Scarlet pulled out a red materia, examined it, and tossed it aside. 'No, no… This is no good. Junky reactor, junky materia…"

"May I ask what it is you are looking for?" Tseng asked her.

Scarlet stared at Tseng for a moment, then said "It's called Huge materia. Though, the name is something of a misnomer, it's only slightly larger than a standard materia, and can come in any color. If we had even one piece, we could construct a weapon more powerful than any in our current arsenals."

"I'll keep my eyes open." Tseng replied.

"See that you do… Let's go."

As we watched the pair board a helicopter, Cloud said "Huge materia? Super weapons…?"

"What the hell is Shinra up to now?" Barrett demanded.

"Nothing good." Red said…

OOOOOOO

We left the ruins of Gongaga's reactor and entered the town itself. Without power of any kind, the village existed in a primitive state, like something out of the middle ages. We came to a fork in the main road, paths branching to the left and right. Cloud instructed us to break into two teams to explore fully. Aeris and I went with Cloud and Tifa along the right branch, while Barrett led Red, Yuffie, and Cait the other way.

As we proceeded down the road, I noted that the townspeople, though leery, were in general less frightened by our arrival than the people of lower Junon had been. No one offered to greet us, but they didn't hide in their homes either. As we approached an intersection, I noticed a couple in perhaps their late fifties sitting side by side outside their front door. I didn't think anything of them until the woman slapped her husband on the shoulder, leaned over, and whispered something in his ear. He listened, then stood and looked at us, at Cloud, more closely. Then he ran out into our path. "Excuse me young man?"

"Yes?" Cloud asked.

"You look like you're in soldier young man… I'd recognize the uniform anywhere."

"Not exactly…" Cloud answered, scratching the back of his head. "I used to be. Not anymore though…"

"Close enough." The man said as his wife came and stood by his side. He continued "The reason I'm asking is, our son was in Soldier… left here to join up nearly ten years ago. We've not heard from him in five years now though, and we're worried. I was hoping maybe you'd know something…"

Cloud thought for a moment, then surprised me by saying "I can't make any promises, but… What was his name?"

"Zach Fair." The man answered proudly. "Soldier First-Class Zach Fair."

Aeris and Tifa both reacted as if they had been slapped. "Zach…?" Aeris whispered. Tifa reacted a bit more loudly, such that no one else noticed Aeris' reaction. I wouldn't even have noticed if I hadn't been expecting it.

"Oh-ho…" Zach's father said, eyeing Tifa. "He wrote to us about a girlfriend about six years ago, might that have been you?"

"N…no…." Tifa stammered out. 'Excuse me." She rushed away, and Aeris did the same a moment later.

"What?" Cloud wondered.

"Well young man? Did you know our son?"

"I'm sorry but no."

"Ahh… That's too bad then… Well, we'll let you on your way then."

Left alone with Cloud, I said "You gonna go talk to her?"

"Why?"

"Why? Because it's your girlfriend? …kind of? You know I'm gonna go find Aer, what about you? You've got to do your part too Cloud." I turned and walked away, looking for Aeris. As I went, I was gratified to see that Cloud did, in fact, go off in the direction Tifa had ran…


	14. DTR

Standard Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy, Green Lantern, or any of their related characters and concepts. This is a work of fan fiction.

"Courage To Change The Things You Can"

Chapter Fourteen: "D.T.R."

Aeris hadn't gone far. I found her sitting on a large boulder in a vacant lot between two homes, less than ten lots away from where Zach's parents lived. She was facing away from me, but I'm pretty sure she knew I was there even before I sat down next to her. "You wanna talk about it?" I asked as I sat.

"Not really." She answered. "But, I suppose I should… I knew Zach back in Midgar, but I've not seen him in over five years."

"Ahh… So it was you instead of Tifa… The girlfriend he wrote home about, I mean."

Aeris chuckled. "Do I detect a hint of jealousy?" I wasn't sure of how to respond to that, so I just stayed quiet. After a moment she continued "I'm teasing. But as for Zach… I'm sure it was me he was telling them about, though I never really thought of us as boyfriend/girlfriend. Not quite, anyway. It was close. Probably would have been if he had come back from that last mission…"

Feeling like a heel for asking things I already knew the answer to, I said "Do you have any idea what happened to him?"

Shaking her head no, Aeris replied "Not a clue. He was leaving on a mission with Sephiroth and some infantrymen. Something about a town near a reactor being attacked by monsters. Zach said he thought he'd be back in two weeks. I never saw him again. I guess I should go apologize to the Fairs for running off like that. It's just that…"

"Take your time."

"Thanks… The thing is, all this time, I've thought that he must've found someone else. I knew there was some Turk girl with her eyes on him, for example… And, you have to understand that as close as I was to falling in love with him back then, that was when I was a teenager… If I met him today, well… Zach was a bit of a ladies' man, if you catch the meaning. Maybe it was denial, but I never thought he was dead. But if his own parents haven't heard from him in all this time either, well…"

"I'm sorry." I wanted to say more, but under the circumstances nothing else came to mind.

"Thank you." She leaned into my side, head on my shoulder. "I'll be okay. Actually, if you don't mind, I'm glad I've got you here alone. There's something else I'd like to talk about."

"Okay…" I replied cautiously.

"We've been through this before…" Aeris began, "And we'll be through it again if you don't talk today… Christian… Who are you? Where are you from? What… What is the deal with how you just came falling out of the sky that day?"

"Aeris…" I started to say, but she cut me off again.

"I don't mean to pry. But there are parts of this I deserve answers to. I mean, I've let it go until now, but… That first day. When you opened your eyes and saw me bending down over you… You almost called me by name."

"Uh-oh." I thought.

"And then, when we were on the cargo ship, when you were trying to cheer me up after the fight with Jenova… You nearly called my birth mother by name when I hadn't told you her name yet. Then in the Gold Saucer… You were all tense when I asked Cait for a fortune, and when he gave it to me, you relaxed. You relaxed even though it sounded pretty bad to me. You knew there'd be Bull Motor things in the prison when you hadn't been awake to see them…"

I sighed and replied "You're too observant for your own good. Aeris, for whatever it's worth, I'm sorry for being this way."

"I don't want an apology. I want an explanation." We were both quiet for several minutes. When Aeris spoke again, she started on what seemed like an unrelated tangent. "You know, I can't normally hear Gaia's voice as well as a full Cetra would have been able to…"

"I've kind of wondered about that…" I replied, taking the bait, "What exactly is the difference anyway?"

"To a full-blooded Cetra, communicating with the planet was no different that carrying on a conversation like the one we're having right now. They could hear Gaia's voice in complete thoughts: words, phrases, sentences. It was crystal-clear communication. For me… Most of the time, all I hear is emotions and vague feelings, like incomplete pictures. Every once in a great while, I'll catch a single clear word, or maybe a three or four word phrase. Those are actually less useful to me than the feelings though, because they're parts of full sentences, so without the context I don't know what they mean."

I was intrigued. If nothing else, this explained why Gaia hadn't just told her everything about Sephiroth and Cloud and Jenova to begin with. "Have you ever gotten an entire thought in words?" I asked.

She nodded. "Yeah. Though, in my whole life that's only happened, like, five or six times… And that's where I'm going with this: Christian, three of those five or six times have been in the last few months… And all three of them were exactly the same message: That I needed to trust you."

I switched instantly from intrigued to stunned. "Why… Why would the planet itself bother with something like that?" I asked her.

"That's my question." Aeris said, staring straight into my eyes. "Who are you, that the Planet, with everything else it's got to worry about, instead sticks it's nose into my personal life? I know you're lying about something…"

It was my turn to interrupt. "No. No, Aeris, I've withheld information, I've allowed people to reach wrong conclusions, but I've _never _actually lied…"

"Fair enough. It's beside the point. Even with all of this, I still trust you. I mean, Red trusts you with his senses, and my own senses tell me you're okay, and the very planet under my feet tells me to trust you…" she started laughing.

"Say," I asked, "I can't hear it, but the planet can hear me right?"

"I imagine so, why?"

"Because I feel obliged to say 'Thank you Gaia' for the vote of confidence in me."

Aeris cocked her head slightly, as if listening, then said "Gaia says that you're welcome, but that you'd better come clean with me now."

Favoring her with a bemused expression I said "Come on now… We both know that Gaia may have said the first part of that, but you embellished the second half yourself…"

"Oooo.." She fumed. "You're still impossible!" Rising, Aeris started to storm away, but made it only about twenty feet before she stopped and stared down at the ground with a shocked expression. I realized she was actually listening to something from Gaia this time, and was surprised when she angrily stomped a foot and, still looking at the ground, demanded "And just what are _YOU_ laughing at?"

After perhaps five minutes, Aeris finally returned and sat down at my side again. Looking to break the upset mood, I said "So… Gaia was laughing? Which means the planet itself has a sense of humor… As God is my witness, I'm not sure if I find that deeply comforting or utterly terrifying…"

Aeris laughed. "I say comforting, though I'll give you that I can see how someone who can't hear it themselves might think otherwise." We were both silent for a time, then she continued "Sorry if I'm pushing too much, it's just…" For half a second I thought Aeris was going to fall silent again. Then she said "Christian… I love you."

I intended to reply to her, I swear I did, but I couldn't find any words after hearing that. Aeris didn't seem to notice my silence as she continued talking. "I'm not entirely sure when I started to feel this way… I know I was starting to suspect that this was what I felt all the way back when we were crossing the Zolem Marshes. And then, when you wouldn't give up on the ship, I knew for sure. What I'm trying to say is, that I guess I shouldn't push you so hard. After all, I've known something this important for weeks now and not told you…"

"Well… In fairness… I feel the same way and I haven't said it yet either…"

"Yes you have." Aeris chuckled. "Remember? It was the very first thing you ever said to me…"

"Nah… Regardless of how I feel now, that doesn't count. I mean, you can't take what was basically a scene from 'Head Injury Playhouse' seriously." I said.

"Can't I?" She asked. "Don't get me wrong now, I know that it couldn't have been a genuine mature expression or anything, but somehow… Somehow, on some level, some part of you actually meant it, or wanted to at least. But then, that's a part of your big mystery isn't it?"

"Yeah." I admitted with a sigh. "Yeah, it is…"

"Alright then. A little bit of truth, at least. I'll tell you what… I'm gonna let this go, just this one last time. It's been an eventful day, after all… But mark my word, the next time I decide to bring this up, you are NOT getting out of it, understood?"

"Totally."

"Good. One thing though, and, not pushing, but… Can you at least explain why you were relieved by such a bad-sounding fortune?"

"Because as bad as it was -and I know what it means more clearly than you could and it's even worse for me than you know- I had reason to expect a far worse omen of something very bad… And when that didn't come up, it gave me some new hope that maybe things will turn out alright."

Aeris stared at me, and I couldn't tell if she was surprised by my straightforward answer, of worried since I said the fortune she got was bad news for me in particular. Still, I had kept my intent of not lying. I couldn't imagine who 'the Guardian's agent' in the fortune could be other than myself. I leaned over and kissed her forehead. "You know… I just realized we got sidetracked before I could return the sentiment…"

"Hmm?"

"I love you too Aer."

Aeris smiled and scrunched in closer to my side. Yawned. "I suppose we should go find the others." She said, "But, I think I'd like to stay here awhile longer. I'm quite comfortable and it looks like we'll have a good view of the sunset…"

"The others can wait." I agreed. "At this point, I doubt we're leaving before morning anyway. If for no other reason than, knowing Cloud, he's probably not gotten past 'Hello' in his talk with Tifa yet…"

Aeris laughed and said "This is true… And now that you mention it, wasn't it kind of funny that she took off when she heard Zach's name too?"

"You did say he was a ladies' man…"

"Yeah, but you don't suppose…" She laughed again. "Nahhh… Though it sure seems like she knew him somewhere… Oh well, something to ask her about someday…"

We spent the remainder of the evening and early night not moving from that place. It was a peaceful, happy time, that I was sorry to see end. I let myself let go of worrying about how to handle telling her the truth when the time came, if only for those few hours. Of course, I can say in all honesty that I would have went ahead and told Aeris the truth that night, if I had known how soon the issue would be forced by an unexpected outside push that, in retrospect, I can almost say I should have seen coming…


	15. This Old Man, He Played Pi

Standard Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy, Green Lantern, or any of their related characters and concepts. This is a work of fan fiction.

"Courage To Change The Things You Can"

Chapter 15: "This Old Man (He Played Pi) ((He Played Knick-Knack in the Sky))"

We departed Gongaga early the next morning. The next few days were uneventful as we rolled on through low sloping hills and wide valleys which started to turn ever steeper as we turned to the north, bearing in the general direction of Cosmo Canyon. As we continued on, the land grew parched and dry, shifting from grasslands to savannah to full desert conditions.

One night when we had stopped to rest, with the southernmost canyons just coming into view on the horizon, Yuffie asked "So Red, this is your home we're coming up on, right?"

"Indeed… Cosmo Canyon. It is a beautiful place, filled with light and the wisdom of the canyon elders, including my Grandfather, the Elder Bugenhagen. Of course, you understand grandfather is human, it's not a blood relation… Not that he means any less to me for that."

"But, you'll get to see others of your race, right?" Yuffie pressed.

With a deep sigh, Red answered "I'm afraid you are looking at my entire race. I am the last…"

"Like me…" Aeris whispered, and I held her closer.

To her credit and my utter shock, Yuffie had the sense to be chastised. "Oh… Oh Red, I'm sorry. I didn't know…" She said.

"You had no way to."

"Are you absolutely sure there might not be any others?" Barrett asked.

"Yeah. The world is a big place." Aeris agreed. "In my case, I can be sure there are no more Cetra because the planet would know and tell me if there were… But for you…"

"The planet is indeed large…" Red replied, chuffling lightly under his breath. "But this canyon was the center, the stronghold, of my kind since time began… And my parents and I were the last to be seen here in at least five hundred years…"

"Red, how long do your people live?"

"Our lifespan is nearly millennial." He replied. "Which, really, is a part of our problem. You live at most a hundred years, and so you are fertile before reaching twenty years. We live a thousand years, and do not have children before we are at least two hundred. But any given day is as dangerous for us as it is for you, so fewer of us survive long enough to reproduce. In good times, this doesn't really matter. But in bad times, well, we are much more vulnerable than humans."

"Red, what do you plan to do?" Tifa asked. "You said back at Midgar that you were only coming with us as far as your home…"

"You're gonna leave us!" Yuffie cried.

"I see no choice." Red answered. "My home needs me. That said, when we arrive I will see that all of your supply needs are amply met for the challenges you will face ahead."

Cloud asked "How long until we get there?"

"Given the speed of the buggy, no more than two days." Red replied…

OOOOOOO

Two days later, right on schedule, the buggy's engine conked out. Cloud and Barrett fussed with it for over an hour before admitting they had no idea what was wrong. "Red, is there any chance we'll find a mechanic in Cosmo Canyon?" Cloud asked.

"Almost certainly." Red answered him. "In fact, we can go there on foot easily enough now… It's perhaps a thirty minute walk from here."

"Then let's go." Barrett said. "I've always wanted to visit here, and we need to check the town for Sephiroth anyway."

Red's time estimate was almost perfect. Half an hour later, we rounded a bend in a narrow canyon and caught sight of the "Cosmo Canyon" entry sign. At the sight of his home, Red walked faster, almost a run, and the rest of us struggled to keep up with him. As we reached the sign, a guard stepped out from behind a column of rock. His eyes instantly focused on Red, and he exclaimed "Nanaki? Holy crud, Nanaki! Is that really you? We've all been so worried!"

The rest of us stopped and stood at a distance as Red stopped in front of the guard and sat back on his haunches. "Yes, it's me. It's me, and I'm delighted to be home at last."

"Well, where have you been?"

"I was captured by scientists working for Shinra, and kept in a cage. These people…" He turned his head and nodded towards us, "They are my friends. They saved me from Shinra."

"Wow! What a story! I can't wait to hear the whole thing sitting around the fire. We were starting to fear we'd never see you again Nanaki."

While Red and the Guard were conversing, Yuffie whispered "So… Red's real name is Nanaki?"

"Seems that way." Cloud answered, also in a whisper.

Meanwhile, Red was asking "What of my grandfather? Is he well?"

"You kiddin'? You know old Bugen, a hundred and thirty and he'll probably outlive us all. He's still up in the observatory, if you want to go see him."

"Thank you my friend." Red replied. He turned to us and said "Come. Grandfather will wish to meet you all, and I suspect he will have important knowledge beneficial to your journey, as well."

We followed as Red led the way into town. As we went, numerous people cheered at the sight of Red's safe return, and more than a few came to greet him. A short distance in we saw the Canyon's eternal flame, and Red stopped long enough to explain it. "Cosmo Candle. The eternal flame which is never extinguished. It has burned here since before records began."

"You mean it's never once been allowed to go out?" Tifa asked.

"Allowed, no. But it has happened once. There is an ancient legend which says that if ever the candle goes out, something terrible will happen. This legend was proved, nearly forty years ago, when the Gi Tribe invaded our canyon just as the candle was extinguished by the only rainstorm in our entire history. My mother died, fending off the Gi, while my cowardly father ran to save his own hide."

"That's terrible." Aeris said.

"Yeah. I know all about cowardly fathers." Yuffie said. "My own let Wutai be turned into a tourist trap, just because he was afraid of Shinra."

"Hmmm… Let us go." Red shook and continued leading the way.

As shown in the game, Bugenhagen's observatory occupied the highest parcel of land in the town, and to reach it we had to follow a winding path of narrow trails along cliff sides and caves reworked into living space and shops. At one point, as we passed a small tavern, I saw a band practicing their music. It took everything I had to not break into laughter when I realized that the tune they were playing was in fact the game's 'Cosmo Canyon' theme music.

When we reached the first access ladder, it dawned on me that I had never wondered just how Red managed to climb up and down. Turns out it wasn't an issue: He stepped back, jumped as hard as he could, which carried him high enough for his hind feet to touch a ladder rung half-way up, then jumped the rest of the way by pushing off of that rung. I would later discover that he simply jumped all the way down going the other way, which somehow never hurt him.

In any case, we made our way to the observatory, and Red rushed in shouting "Grandfather! Grandfather, I'm home!"

"Oh ho ho… And just where have you been Nanaki?" Bugenhagen floated into view from around a corner. "Oh, and who are your guests?"

"These are my friends Grandfather. I was captured by Shinra, and they saved me. I've travelled with them since, all the way from Midgar…" He introduced us one at a time "This is Cloud, a former soldier who now opposes Shinra. Barrett, who leads a branch of Avalanche, and Tifa, also Avalanche. This is Aeris. She is the reason why they were in the right place to save me; Shinra was also holding her captive. She is a Cetra, Grandfather." Bugenhagen's eyes opened wider at this last. "This is Christian," Red said as he got to me "A strange fellow who fell out of the sky. Princess Yuffie of Wutai, and finally Cait Sith, a most unusual automaton."

"Quite a group of companions, to be travelling together." Bugenhagen said. "Pray tell, what is the goal which has bought you together?"

"Sephiroth." Cloud answered. "He's alive. And he's an even bigger threat to the planet that Shinra ever thought of being."

"I see…" Bugenhagen muttered. "Yes, I see indeed. Have you time to spare? I wish to show you all something I think you'll find of interest…"

Bugenhagen then led us into the planetarium room and activated the machines. The holographic displays were impressive, with a resolution so high I would've sworn everything we were seeing was real if I hadn't known better. Standing in the middle of the solar system model, we were all in awe and unable to speak for a time. Finally, Tifa asked "So, what was it you wanted to show us?"

"It has to do with the study of lifestream energy and the planet's life…" Bugenhagen began. He pressed a button and the image zoomed in on a single planet. "Now then, let us say that this is Gaia. The swarms of green light you see playing over the surface represent the lifestream, which flows everywhere on our world. As living things are born, tiny bits of this energy break off and indwell the life forms, animating them."

"And when the life form dies, it's share of life returns to the stream, right?" Barrett asked.

Aeris said "That's what everyone is taught, but it feels off to me… I mean, the Cetra always spoke of the 'Promised Land.' But which is it? Do our spirits return to the planet and get recycled, or do they go to some kind of paradise and continue on forever?"

"An excellent question young lady." Bugenhagen replied. "The answer lies in the fact that, in a sense, both are true… Think of it as a three-part division. First, your body. The physical form which you inhabit in life is made of base matter. After you die, that decays and becomes, once more, a part of the physical planet, or perhaps, is consumed and reused by another life form… Then, second, you have your life-energy. Much the same thing happens here. The energy goes back to the lifestream, and is, sooner or later, recycled into another living being. But third, third you have your mind. Your consciousness, your awareness… Your soul, if you prefer that term. That is not recycled. It endures forever, in a paradise or a purgatory of it's own making. And this paradise is that which the Cetra call the Promised Land."

"You're saying that the Cetra's Promised Land is basically what the rest of us call Heaven, then?" Tifa asked.

"Essentially." Bugenhagen said. "But, we're getting off topic. What I wanted to discuss with you was the true nature of the threat Shinra's activities present. We've seen already the process by which the lifestream energy is recycled and reused in an endless cycle. Shinra's reactor's, however, pull out the energy and don't replace it. They convert it to a form that cannot return to the planet. In time, so much energy will be removed that what is left will be unable to continue flowing normally. And when that happens…" Bugen reached out a hand towards to model of Gaia. The modeled lifestream flowed out of the planet to his hand, the planet grew dark, and the model crumbled.

"If too much energy is taken out, the planet dies…" Cloud whispered.

"Can this damage be repaired?" Aeris asked.

"Of course." Bugenhagen replied. "Whenever a living thing dies, it returns a little more energy to the lifestream than what it took out at it's inception. This excess comes from it's life processes of growth. So, given time, the planet's total energy grows larger."

Red's good eye opened large with understanding. "That's why the natural process of materia formation, and natural mako springs, don't hurt the planet, isn't it?"

"Precisely. Those take energy out at a slower rate than what it is being put back in by life. Therefore, they do no damage. The problem with Shinra's activities is less what they are doing, and more how fast they are doing it."

"That's why Shinra's got ta be stopped!" Barrett exclaimed. "They gonna kill the planet, a little at a time!"

"Right." Cloud agreed. "Sephiroth first, though. If he really is in cahoots with the Cetra's destroyer then he's a much more immediate threat."

Switching off his machine, Bugenhagen said "The Calamity from the Sky has returned as well? This is terrible indeed. According to what records survive, that entity intended to steal all of Gaia's lifestream energy for itself. It must be stopped."

We moved back out into the main room. "We're chasing after Sephiroth now." Cloud said. "But, out vehicle broke down outside of town. We were hoping you had a mechanic…"

"Of course." Bugenhagen said. He looked at Red and said "Nanaki, please find Mister Halborn and guide him back to the vehicle."

"Of course Grandfather." Red answered.

Once Red was out of earshot, Bugen said "You are welcome to stay as long as you need, though given the urgency of your quest I suspect you'll go as soon as possible. Meanwhile, I have one more question: What is bothering my grandson?"

"He says his father was a coward who ran from a battle…" Yuffie answered.

"Ahh… So that's it… Perhaps it's time then…"

"Time for what?" Cloud asked.

"You'll see… For now, please, enjoy the hospitality of Cosmo Canyon…


	16. Son of Seto

Standard Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy, Green Lantern, or any of their related characters and concepts. This is a work of fan fiction.

"Courage To Change The Things You Can"

Chapter 16: "Son of Seto"

Near evening, as the sun was settling closer to the horizon, we all gathered together around the giant candle flame at the center of Cosmo Canyon. Aeris sat between myself and Red, and Tifa was off to my other side. As I expected, Cloud didn't sit still but rather moved from person to person, talking to everyone individually. When he sat down next to Tifa, they were close enough for me to overhear what was being said:

"Cloud…" Tifa began, "Can you believe we'll be back in Nibelheim soon? I wonder what the ruins look like after all this time?"

"It's only five years." Cloud answered. "There'll be lots of plant growth over what used to be the town, but otherwise most of what's left won't have deteriorated that much yet."

"I suppose so." Tifa said. She and Cloud were both quiet for a time, and then Tifa continued "Cloud… You… You are you, right?"

"Who else would I be?"

"I don't know… Forget I said anything."

Cloud shook his head, scratched the back of his neck. "Alright… I'll be close if you wanna talk more, but I should finish checking in with everyone." He rose and walked the short distance to where Aeris and I were seated. "You two doing okay?"

"I think so." I answered.

"Me too." Aeris said. "Actually, I've learned some more from the canyon elders about the Cetra. Things I didn't know before…"

"You seem sad." Cloud said, and I was surprised that he had even noticed.

"A little…" Aeris replied. She looked back and forth between Cloud and me as she continued "I've long since come to terms with the fact that they're all gone but me… But learning about what they were like and all the things they accomplished… I think I'm just wishing I could have known some of them."

"Makes sense." Cloud agreed.

"Very much so." Red said from the other side of Aeris. "I at least got to know my parents for a time. Yet I too wish I had known more of my kind. Especially given the coward my father turned out to be…"

From behind me came a familiar voice. "Oh-ho… A coward? Is that what you think Nanaki?" We all turned to see Bugenhagen approaching, riding on his odd hovering machine.

Red nodded. "Yes grandfather. That is indeed what I think. I know what happened! When the Gi invaded the canyon, Father and Mother stood to oppose them. But Father fled, leaving Mother to die safeguarding the canyon alone!"

Bugenhagen shook his head sadly. "Nanaki, I think it's time I showed you something." He said. Looking at the rest of our group, he added "This will be dangerous. Perhaps too dangerous for Nanaki to handle alone. Will you come with us?"

"Of course." Tifa said, standing. Aeris also stood and indicated a willingness to go, then Cloud and myself.

"We'll all go." Barrett stated.

"Excellent." Bugenhagen smiled. "Nanaki, you've chosen your friends well. Everyone follow me please."

As we followed, Aeris fell to the back of the line. I suspected she was wanting to speak in private, so I also fell back until I was by her side. "Did you find Tifa's behavior odd?" she asked me.

"I think I know what you mean." I said, "But go ahead and tell me what you mean just in case I'm wrong."

"She's been acting off for quite some time now… Especially since we met Zach's parents. And then… That was a strange thing she said to Cloud a little bit ago. You heard it too right? Asking him if he's really himself?"

"That was strange…" I agreed as non-committally as possible. "Maybe it's just stress. I think it's getting to all of us at least a little…"

"Maybe." Aeris said. She didn't seem convinced.

OOOOOOO

Bugenhagen led us to a small chamber with a huge reinforced steel door at the back. "What is this place Grandfather?" Red asked. "You have always forbidden anyone to come here."

"Oh-ho… Beyond this steel door is an ancient cavern which leads all the way through the mountains and to a place outside the canyon." Bugenhagen explained. "It is the 'secret entrance' which the Gi tribe attempted to invade Cosmo Canyon through."

"I see… Why are we here?"

Bugenhagen worked a pair of complicated switches and the door opened. He said "There is something you need to see on the far end of the cavern… However, getting there will not be easy. The Gi counted powerful necromancers among their number, and thus it is that even after they were defeated their malignant spirits and reanimated forms prowl the passages."

"That's why you needed our help, eh?" Yuffie asked.

"Quite. Will you still come, knowing what we will encounter?"

Striking her typical arrogant posture, Yuffie gloated "Somebody here doesn't know who he's talking to. The World's Greatest Ninja fears nothing dead or alive! I'm not afraid!"

"You will be." Bugen replied, in what I swear was a perfect impersonation of Yoda delivering the same line to Luke. Seriously. Freaked me out. Anyway, he hovered into the tunnel entrance, and the rest of us followed.

Inside the cavern, the air was hot, humid, and had the faintest hints of an unpleasant odor I couldn't identify. Floor, ceiling, and walls were composed of a dark-brown stone flecked with crystals, and everywhere were pools of a strange golden liquid.

"Is that gold!?" Yuffie exclaimed.

"Not at all." Bugenhagen answered her. "Don't touch it though. It's extremely toxic. Come, this way…"

We wound our way deeper and deeper into the tunnels. A groan came to our ears, from somewhere up ahead. "What da hell was that?" Barrett wondered.

"The dead know we are here." Red said. He looked around. "Be cautious. The attacks could begin at any moment…"

"Maybe Mr. Bugen should stay behind us." Tifa suggested.

"Good idea." Cloud agreed. He stepped forward, around Bugenhagen, and was joined by Cait. We eased forward, making it less than another hundred feet before another, louder, groan came, accompanied by more than a dozen shambling zombies.

Cloud stepped forward and swung his blade, beheading the first wave of undead. Even as they fell, the next set advanced. Cait's moogle was punching away at the enemies closest to him. From atop it's head, the cat said "Maybe you should keep back lad. I've seen enough movies 'ta know what happens 'ta humans who get bitten by these things."

"Aw, that's just movies!" Yuffie countered. She leapt high and threw her boomerang over our heads. "Isn't it?"

"Actually, zombie bites do turn you into a zombie Yuff." Aeris corrected, "Though, it's not like you can't heal it with magic, as long as you get to the victim before they die."

"Still better to avoid the situation entirely lass." Cait said. With one final punch he finished the last of the zombies.

"As long as we're on the subject of what movies get right and wrong about the undead," I asked, "Is it true that you can kill them with spells that heal the living?"

"Sure, but it's not very efficient." Cloud said.

"Let us continue on before more of the Gi come." Bugenhagen said. He directed Cloud to lead us ahead and to the right when we came to a fork in the path. As we proceeded further, two more swarms of zombies blocked our way, and then we came to a narrow pass. As Cloud was about to enter, Bugen motioned for him to stop. "Does anyone have a light?" he asked.

"I've got it covered." Cait answered. He tapped his moogle on the head, and a pair of bright beams of light shone out of it's eyes and into the narrow passage, illuminating it. Clearly visible in the light was a massive spider-web which completely blocked the way.

"I was afraid of this." Bugenhagen said. "Prepare, everyone. We must disturb the web to proceed, and it's maker is quite powerful and aggressive."

Everyone drew their weapons and we moved into position. Aeris prepared us further with a barrier spell. Then, Yuffie threw a shuriken into the web. The response was instant: An enormous undead-spider dropped down from somewhere above and lunged towards Yuffie. Cloud and Barrett intercepted it, and the battle was on. Cloud, Barrett, and Cait fought in close, while Aeris, Red, and I cast spells at it. Tifa, upset that the tight quarters didn't leave her room to join the melee fighters, settled for keeping them cured, and Yuffie attacked from a distance.

Needless to say, the spider was much tougher than the standard-issue zombies, and the fight took a good deal of time. In the end, it was Barrett who struck the final blow. The creature fell to the ground and crumbled to dust.

"Let's hope there's no more of those in our way…" Tifa said.

"We haven't much further to go now." Bugen replied. "Still, you should rest for a moment. One more challenge most likely lies in our path. Oh-ho, and it occurs to me to tell you more of what happened here before we continue anyway…"

"More of what happened?" Red asked. "Grandfather, why are we here? I already know what occurred with my parents."

"Do you Nanaki? Incomplete information can lead one to a false conclusion…At any rate, the Gi first came to Cosmo Canyon nearly a century ago. I wasn't much older than most of you children then… They threatened our village with annihilation if we didn't yield to their rule. The elders of that time refused of course, and we successfully held off the attacks for decades."

"What changed?" I asked.

"Gi Nattack." Bugen answered. "A new tribal leader who took control of the Gi. He was a better strategist than those who had led them before… And, also, the most potent wielder of death magic that tribe had ever produced. They attempted to sneak into the canyon via these tunnels, and would have succeeded had Gaia herself not warned us by way of the last Cetra to live here in the canyon."

"There were Cetra who lived here?" Aeris exclaimed. "No one told me that!"

"A few. The one I mention was named Halthor. He was quite old, even then, and passed less than a year afterwards. In any event, Nanaki's parents left him with me, and proceeded into the tunnels alone to battle the Gi. Many townspeople wished to aid them, but they both refused. The final battle fell just ahead… You will see shortly."

After a short rest, we continued on to the end of the passage. The far exit was in sight, when the ground began to shake, and everything went somehow… dark. Not dark in the usual sense, you understand. We could still see normally. But the difference was there, even if I can't describe it… A dark shadow wafted up from the floor. "The specter of Gi Nattack…" Bugenhagen whispered.

"Who disturbs the Gi?" the specter demanded. "Who dares enter our place of repose?"

"We don't want any trouble…." Cloud said.

"Unfortunate… For you have it anyway…" The spirit, which thus far had maintained a vaguely human form, let out an ear-splitting shriek and began to grow into a formless mass. Everyone took a step back, and then another.

"This could be problematic." Red understated.

"Or perhaps it just requires an old man's touch." Bugenhagen replied. He pulled a flask of liquid from a pocket and threw it at the still-growing abomination. The glass flask shattered on impact, soaking Gi Nattack, who screamed again then began to melt away.

"What did you just do?" Barrett demanded.

"Oh-ho… Healing magic may be inefficient against the undead… But healing potions, X-Potions in particular, work just fine."

I sighed. "You know, the spider was undead too. Why didn't you…?"

"Too easy." Bugen said. "Now then, let us see what we came here to see."

We exited the tunnel, and Bugenhagen pointed upwards, to the top of a rise. "Behold your father, Nanaki. Behold the mortal remains of Seto…"

"Father…?"

"He was no coward Nanaki. Seto drew a line here, and none of the Gi passed it, though Seto's body was falling to the petrifying arrows of the tribe's archers. Here he stood. Here he died, that you, your mother, and the rest of our people could live…"

"I never knew." Red said, hanging his head. "I thought he had ran, that the injuries Mother sustained were his fault…" He threw back his head and exclaimed "Father! Forgive me! I've dishonored your memory!"

Bugen placed a hand on Red's shoulder. "I'm certain he already has grandson…"

OOOOOOO

Red and Bugen remained at Seto's side for several hours, while the rest of us gave them space. Then we all returned to the town, and gathered in Bugen's home once more. Red seemed happier than before, and more confident as well.

"The mechanics tell me that your vehicle will be ready first thing tomorrow morning." Bugenhagen said. "I've taken the liberty of paying for your rooms at the inn tonight, and I wish for you to know that you have my everlasting gratitude for your assistance."

"Mine as well." Red said. "I can live with my head high now, knowing that I am not the son of a coward."

"Please enjoy all that Cosmo Canyon has to offer." Bugenhagen said. We started to leave, when he cleared his throat and said "Oh-ho… Just one more thing… I wonder if you…" -here he pointed at me- "And you…" –he indicated Aeris- "Might remain here for a moment?"

"Um, sure…" I said.

"We'll catch up." Aeris said to Tifa.

Once everyone else was gone, leaving only the three of us, Bugenhagen closed his front door securely, then turned to face us. Looking me squarely in the eyes, he said "Now then young man… Are you going to tell her, or do I have to?"


	17. The Book of Counted Sorrows

Standard Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy, Green Lantern, or any of their related characters and concepts. This is a work of fan fiction.

"Courage To Change The Things You Can"

Chapter 17: "The Book of Counted Sorrows"

I stood, mouth agape, heart pounding heavily, staring at Bugenhagen. There was no point in lying to myself: there was only one thing he could possibly mean by what he had just said. He knew. I hadn't the slightest idea how, but he knew. Worse, he was calling me out on it. Worse still, he was doing so in front of Aeris. At least he didn't pull this in front of everyone. Cloud knowing would have been a catastrophe.

I dared to glance over at Aeris. The look on her face said it all… She had put two and two together as well, and knew that the elder had to be talking about the secret I had been keeping. She seemed to be in the middle of a curious mix of concern for my own feelings and elation that she was getting her answers one way or another.

"Well?" Bugenhagen asked again, "What's it going to be?"

"How can you do this to me?" I asked. "After what we did to help Nanaki?"

"Oh hoo hoo… You're looking at this the wrong way son…" The old man floated over to my side, placed a hand on my shoulder. "She _needs_ to know young man. You know this as well as I do. That's why I'm not bluffing. If you refuse to tell her the truth, I will. But, I'd rather not, this really is your story to tell…"

I let out a deep breath I hadn't realized I'd even been holding in. "Alright! Alright dammit, I'll do it already… But… how did you know?"

"Oh ho… Let's just say a little blue bird told me…"

"Blue…? Ganthet…" I grumbled.

Floating towards the door, Bugenhagen said "I'll leave the two of you alone for this."

"Hold up!" I called after him. "You… You don't plan on making me tell everyone do you? There are reasons why that's an incredibly bad idea, at least for now…"

"Yes, so I was told. Fear not, aside from your young lady, my lips are sealed."

Bugenhagen closed the door behind him. Aeris was still staring at me, but said "I assume this is something we should be sitting down for?"

"Yeah…"

We sat side by side on a small sofa. For some time, I'm not sure how long exactly, I was unable to speak. Finally Aeris asked "Christian, why is this so hard for you? What could possibly be so bad that you can't tell me, after all we've been through together?"

"It's not like that really." I managed to say. "It's just… I'm not sure where or how to start. And, parts of this might upset you. Aeris, when we first met, the reason I didn't tell you is because I was afraid that you would think I was insane. I was afraid that you wouldn't believe me, and that telling you would push you away from me…"

Aeris laughed lightly. "Christian, you're talking to a girl who hears the voice of the very planet under her feet talking to her. A girl who's travelling with a talking cat-thing that pulls supplies out of thin air, a stuffed-doll fortune-teller, and an obnoxious ninja princess who acts like the world's biggest you-know-what… I doubt you could push the crazy meter far enough to drive me away."

"Oh, just wait. This might. Anyway, that was at first, before we started getting to know each other. Since then, as we got closer, the fear that you wouldn't believe me was replaced by the fear of what might happen if you did… See, I was afraid that if you knew why I was here, you might think that my feelings for you were just an act to stay close…"

At this point, Aeris' curiosity was at it's peak, wondering what I could mean by something like that. Yet she simply said "Again, you forget who you're talking to. If you were faking your feelings, I'd know. Now, will you please stop stalling?"

She was right. I was still stalling, and with Bugenhagen in the next room, that wasn't going to keep. I looked up and into Aeris' eyes. She was giving me that look, the one that goes right through you yet also lets you know that she's there, open, listening.

I told her.

Though I did my best to organize things intelligibly, it wasn't easy under the circumstances. Still, I got the whole story out. I told her about my own world. About how other worlds are known about in the form of fiction. About how I knew Avalanche's entire story that way, and how the Guardian Ganthet had come to me with his offer. I didn't tell her she was slated to die in the unaltered timeline: I had to reveal that I was there to change something in order to open the door to the possibility of actually defeating Jenova for good, but I tried to disguise the truth by simply saying that she was going to be 'injured' and that I needed to prevent that event.

As I told my story, Aeris sat by my side, listening intently, occasionally nodding. A few of the things I said surprised her enough that her eyes opened wider in shock, but by and large she seemed to be taking it remarkably well. As I finished up and fell silent, Aeris was also quiet, but only for a moment. Then she said "Well… You were right about one thing… If _anything_ you could have said was crazy enough to drive me away, it would have been that…" She smiled. "And yet, here I still sit. I guess you're stuck with me."

"You…" I simply stared at her, then said "You're actually okay with all of this? I mean, most people would've been storming out on me at this point… Most people would be freaked out all to hell knowing that I knew about them before we even met…"

"I guess you're lucky I'm not most people."

"You sure aren't…" I laughed.

Placing her hands on top of mine, Aeris said "I'm glad you've finally told me. Even as weird as it is… And you should be glad too, because I'm in this with you now. You're not alone with this burden anymore…"

I smiled as she said this. It hadn't even occurred to me, but what she said was true.

Aeris continued "I have some questions of course… I guess we'll have to deal with them a little at a time. But, there are a couple of things I'd like to ask now…"

"Of course. Go ahead."

She paused after I asked, seeming briefly troubled. She said "Let's get the big one out of the way first: You said that you're here to keep me from being hurt. That if you can prevent it, it'll somehow change things in a way that makes it possible to stop Jenova for good… But, that doesn't make any sense to me, unless…" Looking me straight in the eyes, she asked "Christian? Am I going to die?"

Realizing she had seen through my attempt to soften the truth, I simply answered "Not if I have anything to say about it."

Aeris nodded slowly. "Okay. I've got faith in you. I know you'll pull it off. But, I'm right then, aren't I? Your interference aside, that is what's supposed to happen…"

I gripped her hands tightly as I answered "No. No, do _not _phrase it that way. There is no 'supposed to happen.' There's just what could be and what is. And I'm not allowing what could be to steal the future away from us."

Aeris smiled. "Okay then. Next question. Why don't you want the others to find out about this now that I know?"

"Because until a certain point, which comes after… After the thing I'm not going to let happen… Cloud can't know."

"Cloud… Christian what's wrong with him anyway? I've not said anything, because it's like I can feel that it would somehow make things worse, but I've felt it all along… Even back when he bought that first flower from me…"

I answered "That's complex. Aer, let me warn you now that there's one more part of this that's going to really upset you, and we're coming to it now." She stared with interest, nodded for me to continue. "I can't tell you what happened to Cloud… Without also telling you what happened to… Zach."

Her eyes grew as wide as I've ever seen them, and her hands rose to cover her mouth. "He _is_ dead then?"

I nodded. "Yeah. Though, not for as long as you might think…"

"Tell me."

"Cloud was never really in Soldier. Not first class, not even third. You understand, he's not lying. In order for it to be a lie, you have to be aware that it's not true, and because of what was done to him, Cloud actually believes everything he's saying right now. Anyway, Cloud wasn't Soldier, he was infantry. The last mission that Zach went on, Cloud was one of the infantry sent along…"

"Nibelheim…" Aeris whispered softly. "I can't believe I didn't make the connection myself, given the timing… That was the mission when Sephiroth lost his mind, wasn't it?"

"Yeah. This is a part of why Tifa's been acting off. She knows Cloud's 'memories' are wrong, that it was Zach who did the things Cloud says he did. She doesn't even know how Cloud is aware of what happened. He never took off his helmet, so she didn't know it was him… Sephiroth burned the town and went to the reactor to take Jenova. Tifa, Zach, and Cloud followed him, each independently. Seph wounded Tifa first, the Zach tried to stop him and got beaten soundly, though he was still alive. When Cloud came, Zach gave him the Buster sword."

"But wait… if Cloud wasn't even in Soldier, how did he beat Sephiroth?"

"Circumstances. By the time Cloud caught up to Sephiroth, the latter was so preoccupied with him 'mother' that he didn't even know Cloud was there until Cloud ran him through. After that, Sephiroth managed to wound Cloud before falling into the lifestream, apparently dead. Tifa was saved by Master Zangan. He found her and took her to Midgar. Zach and Cloud, still alive but hurt too bad to escape, were found by the Turks and turned over to-" I stopped, not wanting to continue.

"Turned over to who?" Aeris pressed.

I sighed. "Hojo. They were given to Hojo."

She gasped, and I could see the hurt, the horror, in her eyes. "W… What… Oh god, I'm sure I don't even want to know, but… what did he do to them?"

"I'm not sure of the details exactly. It had something to do with heavy injections of mako and Jenova cells… Some part of his 'clone Sephiroth' insanity… They were both kept in the basement of the Shinra mansion at Nibelheim for four years, then Zach somehow broke free and escaped. He took Cloud with him, but at that point the poor guy was suffering from mako-poisoning so severe he didn't even know who he was. Anyway, Zach tried to get the both of them to Midgar, but they were cornered just outside the city. Zach was killed there. I… I'm sorry…"

"I'm okay." Aeris said. "Wait though, why didn't they kill Cloud too?"

"The mako poisoning. He was in such bad shape, they were sure he would die anyway, and wasn't worth the price of a bullet. I'm not sure how Cloud pulled himself together, but he took Zach's sword and walked the rest of the way into town. Then Tifa ran into him, and he cobbled together some fantasy in his head, with him in the place of Zach."

"The poor thing… You said he would get better?"

"Eventually Tifa will be able to help him pull his real memories together. But, to get back on track with your original question, all those Jenova cells in Cloud's system mean that what he knows, Sephiroth knows. And I don't think that's a good idea…"

"Heh… No, no it wouldn't be. So what exactly is Sephiroth trying to do anyway?"

"Sephiroth is trying to get ahold of the Black Materia. It contains the ultimate destructive black magic spell: Meteor."

"Meteor?" Aeris asked. "That sounds like…" She paused in thought for a moment, then said "That sounds similar to another spell I've heard about, Comet."

I answered 'Same concept, _massive_ difference in scale… You cast Comet, the rock that falls out of the sky is big enough to give your target a seriously nasty headache. You cast Meteor… You cast Meteor, the rock that comes falling down is so big that if it hits, everything dies. _Everything_. Every living being on the entire planet, and the very planet itself… Everything dies."

"What? But why…? Why would he want to…?"

"Partially it's just that he's crazy. He thinks that if he kills the planet he'll become some kind of god… But, you've also got to take Jenova's influence on him into account. Whatever it is, I don't know, but she's got her own reasons for wanting to do this…"

"Can we stop this?"

"That's where your 'family heirloom' comes in." I said. Aeris looked at me in surprise then pulled the White Materia free of her bow and held it cupped in both hands. She gave me a look of curiosity, wanting to understand. "As the Black Materia contains Meteor, the White Materia contains Holy. It's the ultimate white magic, essentially the defensive counter-spell to Meteor. And… It only responds to a Cetra…"

Nodding slowly in understanding, Aeris said "Which is why Sephiroth would decide to get rid of me… This thing makes me the greatest threat to his plans doesn't it? Well… Okay, so what do we do then? I mean, I can't just shirk this responsibility to save myself. You do know that, don't you?" I nodded that I did indeed know that there would be no talking her out of it. She continued "So what are our options? I'll do what I have to, but you know I have no intentions of dying if there's any other way to prevent it…"

"I'm not sure yet. Really, there are two options. One: Let things proceed normally to that point, then intervene when he tries to make his move, or, Two: Change the course of events so that it never gets that far. Obviously, I would prefer the latter, but every possibility I've ran through in my mind has been a bust for one reason or another."

"From now on," Aeris said, "I want you to start telling me everything that's going to happen. The more I know, the more I'll be able to help you."

"I'll do that if you want but Aer, you understand, what I know is based on a game. The reality might be different at any point along the way…"

"I get that. It's still better than nothing. And besides, so far, how many times has this game of yours been wrong, excepting things you yourself have changed?"

"In a major way?" I asked. "Only once. Of course, the further we go, the more those changes I've caused are going to compound themselves. Eventually, even the tiniest effects of my being here could have a massive impact…"

"Well, anyway, your knowledge is still a good starting point for now." We sat quietly for a time, then Aeris said "Hey… You mind if I ask one more thing tonight?"

"What is it?"

"Well…" She paused. "I know this is a long shot, but I feel like I have to ask… Do you know anything about… …my father?"

I smiled, and told her what I could remember about Professor Gast…


	18. On The Road Again

Standard Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy, Green Lantern, or any of their related characters and concepts. This is a work of fan fiction.

"Courage To Change The Things You Can"

Chapter 18: "On The Road Again"

Early the next morning, I joined the rest of the team, minus Red, at the town's main entrance. I looked up towards the observatory and saw Bugenhagen and Red watching us gather. "So Red's really staying?" Yuffie asked. "I hoped he'd change his mind."

"We all did." Cloud answered her.

"I'll miss the big flea-bag, that's fo sure!" Barrett rumbled. "But, we can't sit here poutin' or we'll never get 'ta Nibelheim. Let's move out!" Barrett started walking, with Cloud and Tifa immediately behind him, Cait and Yuffie a little further back, and Aeris and I last, just out of earshot.

"You're sure Red will change his mind?" she whispered to me.

"Unless game and reality take a major divergence from each other here, yeah… Though, so far as that goes, I was expecting him to catch up to us at the gate. I'm starting to worry…"

"Hmmm…" Aeris mused. "Hey! I just thought of something! Do you actually know what's going on with that mystery supply deal Red's got going?"

"I'm not sure." I answered. "The thing is, in the game, you're given a ridiculous amount of inventory space. Like, more than a thousand people could realistically carry. But it's never explained, or even commented on, and pretty much all adventure games are like that… Until Red, I just thought it was a way to make the game easier."

"Strange…"

"Yeah… Tell you what, if he really doesn't come running to rejoin us, we'll come back here when this is all over… …and refuse to leave him alone 'til he explains it."

Aeris chuckled. "Deal…"

OOOOOOO

=== Begin Third-Person P.O.V. – Nanaki ===

"Well Grandson, there they go…" Bugenhagen said. "I knew them only a day, yet I think I'll miss the lot of them."

"As will I." Red agreed.

"You don't have to, you know…"

"I don't understand Grandfather."

"Oh-ho… This old man thinks you do… Why are you staying here Nanaki? The canyon is in good hands, and the world itself is at risk."

"Grandfather, how could I go? It is my duty to protect the canyon…"

Bugenhagen laughed. "And what good, pray tell, will that do if the entire world is destroyed? Do you think that this little canyon might survive the death of Gaia itself? That we might use magic to contain a bubble of air around a Cosmo Canyon-sized asteroid drifting in space?"

"Of course not, but…"

"But nothing Grandson. The canyon will be fine, and so will I… If the world is saved. Go. Help your friends."

Red looked up at the old man with his good eye. "I… …Thank you Grandfather. I will return when Gaia is secure once more." He turned and ran to catch up with the rest of us…

OOOOOOO

=== Resume First-Person P.O.V. ===

We had just reached the buggy when a loud howl sounded from behind. Everyone turned and looked to see Red running towards us at full speed. As he approached he slowed to a walk, and had to sit and catch his breath before saying "I have discussed the situation with Grandfather, and we concurred that my duty to protect Cosmo Canyon is, at this juncture, best served by protecting the planet as a whole. May I continue to travel with you?"

Yuffie started laughing and threw her arms around Red's neck. "I knew you wouldn't abandon us!" she exclaimed.

"Then you knew wrong." Red replied. "I truly did intend to remain here."

"Well either way, there's no chance of us turning you out Red." Cloud said to him. "Now, let's all get packed up and moving. Nibelheim is just a few days north by buggy…"

OOOOOOO

Around noon of the following day, I was sitting on the roof of the buggy as we drove north. Yuffie was also present, but everyone else was inside until Aeris joined us. The fresh air and warm sun made for a pleasant day, at least until we reached a series of rolling hills. The constant up and down motion triggered Yuffie's motion sickness, which thus far hadn't been impacted by the buggy. "Why don't you go inside Yuff?" I asked her.

"But the sun feels good…" She started to answer, then bent and heaved over the side again.

Aeris shook her head. "Go inside Yuffie. Lay down. You'll feel better."

"But we'll still be moving…"

"Sure, but you won't be able to see the rolling view… and you'll be down lower where the effect is weaker." I told her. "Plus, maybe Red's got a tranquilizer stashed away somewhere."

"Maybe…" Yuffie answered. The poor girl was turning as green as her favorite shirt. She heaved again, then retreated into the buggy.

I grinned at Aeris and said "I thought she'd never leave."

"That's mean to say, as bad as she feels." Aeris answered, though she was grinning back. "So…" she finally said, "What are we going to find at Nibelheim?"

"Nothing anyone here expects. We're not coming up on ruins… Shinra's engaged in a massive cover-up of what really happened. They razed what was left of the real city, rebuilt it exactly as it was before, then installed actors to pretend to be the original townspeople."

Aeris stared at me, jaw dropped open. I honestly think this revelation shocked her more than learning the truth about me. "They… They did WHAT!? Are you serious?"

"Totally serious."

"Oh wow… This is gonna be hard on Cloud and Tifa…"

"Yeah."

"Okay, what else?"

"Well… We're gonna run into Sephiroth again. The old Shinra mansion, the one where Cloud and Zack were held by Hojo, it's stone, and it didn't burn so it's still there. We'll have to go in, and when we do we'll find Sephiroth in the basement lab. Don't worry though, this encounter is about head-games. He shouldn't attack us…"

"Shouldn't isn't very reassuring." Aeris chuckled. "Geez, is there anything good that happens while we're there?"

"Maybe… We might be gaining a new Avalanche member."

"Might be? You've seen all this, do we or not?"

"Thirty years ago, when Hojo and his team were first working on the Jenova project, there was a female scientist named Lucrecia. She was Sephiroth's biological mother. Why that matters, is what happened with one of the Turks assigned to guard the science team. His name is Vincent Valentine. He fell in love with Lucrecia, and when he found out what Hojo was doing he tried to save both her and the unborn child. It didn't work, and Hojo used him as a test subject."

"And he's still alive?"

"Yeah. Whatever Hojo did to him, it extended his lifespan and slowed his aging process. He's spent the last thirty years sleeping in a coffin inside a hidden room of the mansion. He should join us if we wake him up, but…"

"But what?" Aeris wondered. "You haven't told me why this is a 'maybe' thing."

I shook my head. "The game presented Vincent's joining up as an 'optional side quest.' You could get him on board, or just go on without him… Of course, Yuffie was presented as optional too, and you know what happened with her… She didn't exactly give us an option did she?"

"No, she didn't. But, what you're saying basically is that since this wasn't required in the game, you have no way of knowing if we'll even meet him."

"Right. And, no way of knowing if it'll go the same way if we do."

"Is there anything we can do to increase the odds? If this guy's willing to help us out, I don't think we wanna miss the chance."

"Maybe… When we get to the mansion, Cloud will probably want to go straight to the basement… Which is where Vincent is, but the door to the room his coffin is in should be locked…"

Nodding, Aeris said "I assume the key is somewhere else in the mansion right? So, we'll need to come up with an excuse to look around the rest of the place first, so that we can find it."

"Yeah."

We sat silently for a time, then Aeris said "Why a coffin? Does the guy have some sort of vampire-goth thing going on?"

"Actually, he hates being compared to a vampire. I think it might have been Hojo who put him in the coffin though…" I stopped talking as I became aware that Aeris was looking at me funny. "What?"

"Christian… How did you know what I was thinking?"

"I'm afraid you've lost me." I admitted. "What do you mean?"

Turning to face me more directly, Aeris said "I didn't speak that question out loud… I was just thinking it…"

"Are you sure?" I asked. "Because, I swear I heard you plain as day."

Aeris started laughing. "I wasn't really expecting this, you know… especially when it didn't start some time ago…"

"Expecting what?"

"Among the Cetra," she explained, "Couples who got close enough to each other could frequently hear each other's thoughts… When it didn't start for us, especially after we finally admitted our feelings to each other at Gongaga, I just thought it wasn't going to happen at all…"

"It would've made sense if it didn't…" I mused, "Given that you're half-Cetra and I'm not at all. I wonder why it's started now though…"

"Isn't it obvious?" She asked, grinning. I confessed that it wasn't obvious to me at all. "The secret!" Aeris exclaimed. "Until a couple days ago, you were still keeping a huge part of your life hidden from me. It must've gotten in the way." She said nothing more out loud, but looked me in the eyes and I could hear her think "And now that it's not in the way anymore…"

"Wow." Was all I could think to say.

"Yeah."

"We'll have to learn how to use this…"

Aeris nodded. "We will. Actually, I expect it'll come in handy to us." I saw that she was right about that. This would enable us to communicate things about my mission secretly, even in the midst of the others…

OOOOOOO

Three days later, we drove into the outskirts of Nibelheim. Cloud switched off the buggy's engine and everyone piled out into the street. Turning in a slow circle, eyes wide, Tifa murmured "W… What?"

"What's goin' on here?" Barrett demanded. "I thought you two said dis place was burned ta the ground!"

"It was…" Cloud whispered.

"Not to disagree laddie," Cait said, "But it certainly doesn't look like that ever happened."

"It's true!" Cloud shouted. "I was here! I remember the flames! I remember the heat on my skin! The screams of the dying! The roar of homes collapsing in ruins!"

"Cloud is telling the truth." Tifa said. "I remember it too."

"Then how is it all still standing here?" Yuffie wondered.

"It's gots ta be Shinra." Barrett said. "Maybe… Hell, I dunno, maybe they did all this for some reason."

"A cover-up?" Yuffie replied. "Hiding what really happened?"

"That does seem possible lass." Cait said.

Staring warily at the buildings, Red said "Perhaps we should look around town. Try to interrogate some of the 'villagers.' If this is a cover-up, they will have to know the truth."

"Good thinking." Cloud said, pulling himself together. "C'mon everyone."

OOOOOOO

For more than an hour, we explored the rebuilt town together. At one point Barrett suggested splitting up, but neither Cloud nor Tifa would have any part of that. "This is way too creepy." Tifa insisted. "I want everyone in sight at all times."

"Absolutely." Cloud agreed, "At least until we know for sure what's going on."

As in the game, the faux townspeople denied any knowledge of the truth. And, again as in game, Nibelheim was crawling with cloaked babbling Sephiroth clones. As we explored, our search took us through the replica of Tifa's home, and then on towards the Shinra mansion.

We arrived at the mansion gates just after noon. "This looks like the creepiest place of all." Yuffie said. "Do we have to go in?"

"I need to see the basement." Cloud said, not offering to explain. "Besides, there might be information in here about the town. Files on how everything got rebuilt, for example."

Cloud reached out and pushed the front door, which opened with a squeal. Darkness lay beyond the portal. "Ladies first?" I joked. Everyone laughed, but no one male or female made a move to enter for quite some time…


	19. Nibelheim's Ring

Standard Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy, Green Lantern, or any of their related characters and concepts. This is a work of fan fiction.

"Courage To Change The Things You Can"

Chapter 19: "Nibelheim's Ring"

Author's Note: Apologies for the extra-long wait on this chapter. For some reason, this one was just exceptionally difficult to write. Hopefully I'll get back on track for the rest of this story…

Nibelheim; the Shinra Mansion. We stood at the doorstep, staring into the pitch-black darkness beyond the doorjamb. A scrap of poetry came to my mind, causing me to whisper "Here I opened wide the door; darkness there, and nothing more…"

"I have no idea what you're quoting," Tifa replied, "But at this moment I could have done without it."

"Totally." Yuffie agreed."

"Sorry." I said. "Though you've got to admit it's appropriate." Looking to Cait, I asked "Can those mechanical eyes of yours make out anything?"

"Very little lad. Which is strange, seeing as how they were built to see pretty far into the infrared. It's almost as if there were some force of darkness obscuring matters."

"Shinra… Hojo… Did terrible things here." Cloud said.

Red eyed him with interest. "Indeed? Then perhaps this miasma can be explained as a spiritual darkness bought on as an aftereffect of the suffering of Hojo's victims. I wonder… Can you elaborate on the nature of Hojo's work here?"

"No. I don't know anything about it."

Barrett looked at Cloud and demanded "If you don't know about it then how do you even know it happened?"

"A valid query." Red nodded.

Cloud shook his head. "I just know. I don't know how."

"Let's stay focused people." I said. "We can't very well go in if we can't see." I had intended to say more, but even as the previous sentence was out of my mouth, the darkness vanished.

"Not uncreepy." Yuffie said.

"An invitation perhaps?" Red wondered.

"Yeah, with a 'Come into my parlor' vibe." Aeris answered him.

"I'm no longer certain proceeding in is a good idea." I thought to Aeris. "This whole darkness thing didn't happen in the game."

"Do we have a choice though?" she thought back.

Before I was able to reply, Cloud headed in with a look of determination on his face. Tifa and Barrett followed close behind. "Looks like the choice is out of our hands." I answered. We followed Cloud, and Cait shuffled in close behind.

Standing at the door, Yuffie seemed hesitant. "The World's Greatest Ninja scared of ghosts?" I asked.

"Ghosts, no." Yuffie said. "What looked an awful lot like the gates of hell though…? Yeah, I've got no shame in admitting I'm not too sure of that…"

"It wasn't the gates of hell Yuff." I said. "For one thing, I didn't see a three-headed dog anywhere."

"And there was also no inscription with the words 'Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.'" Red added.

I looked down at Red in surprise. He noticed and asked "Did I say something wrong?"

"Not really. It's just, back home there's a really old book in which the protagonist travels through the afterlife, heaven, hell, purgatory, and he sees those words over the gate of hell."

"Yes. The Divine Comedy." Red replied. "Grandfather owns a copy. A copy of the work you quoted earlier as well. 'The Raven.' Does that surprise you?"

"Very much." I said to him. To Aeris, I thought "How can books from my world be here?"

"I don't know… A question for this Ganthet guy the next time he shows up I guess."

"I'm stacking up a whole list of questions for Ganthet, to be honest." I thought back.

As Yuffie tentatively stepped into the mansion, I returned my attention to the rest of our team. Cloud was already speaking about heading straight down to the basement. I knew that I needed to convince him to explore the rest of the mansion first, but I wasn't sure what I could say that would convince him of the need, especially given how driven he was to go to the basement lab. Fortunately, Aeris already had an idea: "Cloud, hold up!" She said.

Standing at the head of the downward stairs, Cloud turned "What? Why wait?"

"I'm just wondering, are there any other ways in or out of the basement? Besides these stairs I mean."

"I don't think so. What of it?"

"We need to be careful. Especially after that strange darkness when we first got here… If there's no other way out, we had best check out the rest of the mansion first, don't you think? Make sure there's nothing to come up behind and trap us in?"

"She's right Spikey." Barrett rumbled. "Only question is, do we stick together or split up?"

"No splitting up!" Yuffie exclaimed. "Not after what happened before…"

"For once I agree with Yuffie." I said. "Let's search the first floor, then upstairs. We'll cover the whole place, then be clear to head down."

OOOOOOO

Our exploration of the mansion went more smoothly than I expected, at least at first. We quickly found the note near the door which contained the clues to the safe combination, but there was no real reason for anyone else to think it might be important, and I couldn't think of any excuse to give for doing something that would be interpreted as a waste of time. Given all of this, I decided to slip ahead of everyone else, work the safe combination (hoping the actual combo was the same one I remembered from the game) then hope to keep the monster busy 'til the others arrived. That way, I could avoid the question of how I knew the combination by saying the safe was already unlocked.

The first part of this plan went perfectly. When we arrived at the top of the stairs, Cloud led the group into the first room off the main hallway. I crept ahead, alone, and found the safe in the third room down. The combination was exactly what it should have been. I think I was halfway hoping that maybe, after inputting the numbers, I could yell for help BEFORE I actually opened the door. It didn't work out that way…

Turning the dial to the third number, I heard the sound of the tumblers fall into place, and knew the door was ready to open. Apparently, Lost Number understood the significance of the sounds too, though, because it instantly shoved the safe open from within and began to climb out. How a creature bigger than a bull elephant managed to stuff itself into that small safe, I'll never know. I tried to jump back, clear of the safe, but the monster was too fast. The safe door slammed into me, knocking the wind from my lungs even as I was thrown across the room…

OOOOOOO

I'm pretty sure I must have blanked out after hitting the wall, though if so I wasn't out for very long. The next thing I remember is opening my eyes to find everyone else present and fighting. Lost Number itself was still in it's half-red/half-purple form. Cloud was in the point position, using his sword to trade blows with the creature, whose arms had thick blade like protrusions on them. Yuffie was dodging from side to side trying to toss shurikens around Cloud. Everyone else was doing whatever they could to help, but if you can picture an, as mentioned above, elephant-sized monster, along with several people, all stuffed into an average sized bedroom, you'll see how there wasn't much room to maneuver.

I pulled myself to my feet, still wobbly from the blow. In my head I heard the sound of Aeris' voice "What were you thinking?" and tried to pull it together in order to help.

As I found my footing and drew my sword, the monster let out a terrible shriek. I looked up to see what was happening. Lost Number stood, frozen in place, staring at us all. Then it began shaking, and as it shook the purple half slowly melted away to reveal an entirely red monster. "Someone must've hit it with a strong spell." I thought.

Completely converted to it's red form, Lost Number attempted to resume it's attacks, but the small size of the room we were in worked against it even more strongly than before: The physically attacking 'red' side was virtually pinned in place. Cloud held his blade in a defensive position, but this wasn't even necessary given our opponent's predicament. Barrett charged up his gun-arm for it's most powerful attack, and cut loose with a blast that threw the creature against the far wall so hard that the wall crumbled and Lost Number fell through to the outdoors. We stepped forward, expecting to need to continue the battle, but the monster hadn't survived the fall to the ground below.

Before I could say anything, I was almost knocked to the ground by Barrett knocking me on the back of the head, hard. "What da hell was you thinkin' fool?" He demanded. "It bad enough you wander off from the rest of us, but then you open up da safe? Anything coulda been in dere!"

"Time for my first outright lies." I thought. Said "Sorry about wandering off. I thought Aer and Cloud were behind me… But I didn't open the safe… As soon as I stepped into the room, that thing threw it open from inside, on it's own, and climbed out…"

"Well…" Barrett murmured.

"What's done is done." Cloud countered. "This was the last room upstairs. Can we go check out the basement now?"

"One more thing. Even Shinra wouldn't stuff a monster in a safe for no reason… I wanna see what was else was in there." I said.

"Sensible." Red agreed.

I started for the safe, but Yuffie beat me to it. She knelt down, reached in, and pulled something out. "What?" she exclaimed, "What a ripoff! No gold or jewels or materia at all! Just a moldy sheet of paper and some dumb old key!"

I saw that Yuffie was going to throw the key out the hole in the wall and shouted for her to stop, but it was too late. The key sailed into the air towards the hole. Luckily, Cait's mechanical reflexes were equal to the challenge. He leapt off of the moogle's head and caught the key, which he turned over to me.

"Yuff, f.y.i., this key could be worth more than all the materia in the world for all you know." I said.

"It's just a key! All it does is open a door!"

Tifa knocked the younger girl on the head. "And if there's a lifetime supply of materia on the other side of said door?"

Yuffie turned white as a ghost. "I didn't think of that…"

"No harm's done lass." Cait said. "I caught it, after all. What interest me is that paper."

Red stepped in and took a closer look. "This isn't actually paper. It's papyrus. An ancient papyrus scroll… Cloud, can you very carefully unroll this for me?"

Cloud did so, and Red examined the ancient document. "Incredible…" He whispered. "May I keep this? It will come in very useful to me someday…"

"It's yours. But what exactly is it?" Tifa asked.

"Instructions on how to perform Cosmo Memory, the most powerful attack of my people. I am still far too young and weak to use it now, but someday… This is a wonderful find for me, after my parents died, I had expected to never have this opportunity…"

"Well, I'm glad somethin' good came of that fight then." Barrett said.

"Me too. Now let's move." Cloud agreed. He turned and all but ran for the basement stairs…


	20. The Vampire and the Villain

Standard Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy, Green Lantern, or any of their related characters and concepts. This is a work of fan fiction.

"Courage To Change The Things You Can"

Chapter 20: "The Vampire And The Villain"

Single file, we cautiously descended the narrow stairs into the basement of the Shinra Mansion. Once there, we found a slightly wider but still narrow passageway hewn into the bedrock. It continued out of sight, gradually curving as it went. "Cait, can we have some light?" Cloud asked.

"Coming right up laddie." The cat replied. He punched his moogle on the head and twin beams of light shone forth from it's eyes, illuminating the corridor. I think we were all relieved to find that this was just a normal darkness, not the creepy blackness we had encountered at first. Now that we could see better, it was clear that the hall was rock-walled all the way to where it curved out of sight. There were long-extinguished mako lanterns hung on the walls at regular intervals, and the occasional crate or barrel along the sides on the floor.

"Is this a basement or a cave?" Yuffie wondered.

"A little of both from the looks of it." Tifa answered.

"Let's go." Cloud said. He took point and led us along the path.

I soon saw that, as I was getting used to expecting, this place was larger than the game would have you think. We continued, I estimate, around a quarter of a mile. It occurred to me that we had to be far beyond the footprint of the above-ground mansion, and I was wondering if Yuffie might have been right. Maybe this was a natural cavern Shinra had found and made 'improvements' to. Several times, we came to doors opening off of the main corridor. None were locked, and all proved to be empty storage rooms.

Just past the quarter-mile mark we found another door. This one was larger than the others, of steel rather than wood, and locked tight. "This must be it." I thought to Aeris.

"I wonder why this one is locked?" Aeris then said aloud, giving me an opening.

"Maybe we can find out." I replied, producing the key. "Let's see if this fits."

"Now hold on!" Barrett objected. "Remember what was in the safe. "Everyone in combat positions first!"

I waited patiently until Barrett was satisfied that everyone was ready for whatever might rush us when the door opened, then slid the key into the lock. It turned effortlessly and the door slid open. Now, after Tifa's comment to Yuffie in the last chapter, the ninja was expecting the locked room to be filled with some kind of treasure. I can't fully describe how funny it was to watch the expression on her face change when the door opened to reveal coffins.

"That's it!?" she demanded. "The great treasure is dead people!?"

"Who knows what might actually be in these coffins though…" Cait said.

"Yeah. I saw a film once where a coffin was filled with weapons and such." I agreed. "At the very least we should check…"

"This risks disturbing the dead." Red countered.

"Yeah." Yuffie said. "What if you open a coffin and find, like, a vampire or something?"

Tifa laughed. "I thought teenage girls were all swoony over vampires."

"The sparkly kind, yes. The bitey kind, no." Yuffie argued.

"Opening them or not, we're here let's at least check out the room." Aeris said.

That seemed reasonable to everyone but Yuffie, who insisted on staying at the door. We entered and examined the chamber. A central aisleway ran the width of the room. On either side were five rows of coffins, with four coffins in each row, two on either side. At the front lay one last coffin, raised on a platform and centered with the aisle. As Cloud, in the point position, passed the last row of coffins before the reaching the front of the chamber, a voice called out; "Why are you here?"

Nearly everyone took a step back, looking around for the speaker. "Who's there?" Tifa shouted.

In answer, we heard a thin dry sound, certainly a laugh although it could just as easily have been a coughing sound, or perhaps a death-rattle. "I believe that is the question which I asked you first…" The front-most coffin lid sprung open and out flew a dreadful sight: Pale, thin, almost skeletal, raven black hair, golden clawed hand, crimson cloak billowing about as if in a hurricane wind though the air was still. Vincent Valentine, of course.

"Vampire!" Yuffie exclaimed. "What did I tell you all? Huh? What did I tell you!?"

Vincent sighed deeply. "I am not a vampire young lady. I yet live, though I might wish I did not. Now I ask you once again, who are you and why are you here? You don't look like Shinra, certainly aren't Turks…"

"Hell no we ain't Shinra!" Barrett shouted. "We Avalanche, an' don't you forget it!"

"Avalanche? I've never heard of such a group."

"Never mind us, who exactly are you?" Cloud demanded.

"And more to the point, what are you?" Tifa added.

"Yeah, if you're not a vampire, what were you doing in that coffin anyway? Coffins are where vampires sleep you know!" Yuffie said.

"Hojo placed me in the coffin. It was not my choice." Vincent replied. "At least not at first. Though… In time I chose to remain, as penance for my sins."

"Hojo? How do you know Hojo?" Cloud asked.

"I worked for him." Vincent admitted. "Or, for Shinra anyway. I was a Turk. I worked here, guarding Hojo and his team. But I was betrayed twice, and turned into the creature you see before you. For my failure, I remain here though I could have left long ago."

"You keep speaking of your 'failure.'" Red asked, "What happened?"

Vincent sighed again. "I found that Hojo was experimenting on his own wife and unborn child. I swear to you, I did not know what was truly going on until the day the child was born… I would have acted sooner if I had. I tried to save both mother and child. But Hojo caught me, shot me… That is my failure, that I was not strong enough to save the child… I wonder what has become of him?"

Taking advantage of the circumstance, I said "Maybe… It's a small chance, but maybe we can tell you… Do you know the kid's name?"

"Sephiroth." Vincent answered, and the whole room erupted into chaos. Cloud, Tifa, Barrett, Red, and Yuffie were all talking over one another, and it took several minutes for Aeris and I to calm things down. When the room was finally silent, a confused Vincent asked "Did I say something wrong?"

"Sephiroth's the murdering madman we chasin' after!" Barret bellowed. "He 's tryin' to kill the whole damn planet!"

"What?" Vincent whispered. "How long have I slept here?"

"I'm not sure if you actually want to know…" Aeris said, placing a hand on his right hand, "But, you said you were put here when Sephiroth was a baby. If that's right… It's been thirty years."

"Thirty years…" Vincent repeated. "It seems my penance is to span decades, perhaps centuries… For now I know that in failing Sephiroth and Lucrecia, I have failed the entire world." He looked us all in the eyes, one by one, and said "Please forgive me." Then, faster than any of us could react, he fell back into his coffin, the lid closing behind.

"Hey!" Barret shouted. "Come on outta there! You can help us stop this! Isn't that better than hiding away sulkin'?" He beat heavily on the lid and tried to pry it open, all to no avail.

"Forget it Barrett, he's not coming back out." Cloud said. "Let's move on."

"And by 'move on' you mean 'move on back out of here,' right?" Yuffie asked.

"Not yet Yuff." Cloud corrected. "There's one more room to check out down here. Come on, it shouldn't be much further…"

OOOOOOO

We found the door to the combination library/laboratory a few minutes later. Cloud insisted on taking point, and everyone followed him in. Bookcases covered every square inch of wall, from the floor to the high ceilings twelve feet up. A pair of desks stood near the door, and near the farthest wall were the mako tanks Cloud and Zach had been held in, shattered open. Beyond them lay rows of library stacks, oriented in a direction that made seeing down the rows between them impossible from where we stood. Several sections of the bookcases were empty, their contents strewn about on the floor. There wasn't anywhere to step that you wouldn't be standing on a book, loose papers, or torn-open folders.

Aeris was peering about, and I could feel how unsettled she was becoming. I put a hand on her right shoulder as she silently asked me "Christian, is this…?"

"Yeah…" I thought back. "Cloud and Zach were in those tanks… Be cautious, Sephiroth is somewhere in this room…" Even with the knowledge that this encounter shouldn't turn violent, Aeris stepped closer to my side and gripped her staff tighter, and I let my hand drift to the hilt of my sword.

"Cloud, why are we here?" Tifa asked. "What are we looking for?"

Cloud turned with a start to face her. A strange expression crossed his face, the look of a man realizing that he doesn't know the answer that he should have known. "Why… Why are we here?" He repeated.

A laugh rose from somewhere in the stacks. "Don't you remember Cloud?" came a familiar voice. "You're here to see me of course." Sephiroth stepped from one of the aisles. He approached us, but stopped after only a few steps.

Cloud drew his sword, Tifa and Red dropped into combat stances, and Barrett and Yuffie took aim with their weapons. "There's no need for that." Sephiroth sneered. "I'm not looking for a fight today. I just want to speak with Cloud… Tell me, do you remember what happened that day? That day five years ago? The day I finally learned the truth?"

"Don't let him in your head Cloud!" Tifa exclaimed. "He's trying to confuse you."

"Don't worry Teef, I'm okay." Cloud said. He stared at Sephiroth and said "You think I could forget? You killed nearly everyone I knew! You burned the town!"

"True, true… Though to look outside, the second part of that might seem questionable."

"No more mind games Sephiroth!" Cloud shouted. "You know, I was planning to ask you what the point of all this has been, but now I'm wondering what it even matters… Let's just end this here and now!"

"End it? Dear Cloud, I've barely begun. And you, you don't even understand the nature of my question. I wasn't asking if you remembered what happened in the town, in the reactor. I was asking if you remembered what happened in this very room…" He pulled a file folder from the bookcase to his left and threw it to the ground, papers scattering about. "Do you remember Cloud?"

Cloud fell to his knees, clutching his head. "Do I? I don't… Or I do? I don't know…"

"Cloud!" Tifa exclaimed, kneeling at his side. She turned a fierce gaze on Sephiroth. "What are you doing to him?"

"Nothing more than his nature requires." Sephiroth replied.

With a scream, Tifa leapt to her feet and tried to rush the madman. She didn't even get close before being thrown backwards by an invisible force.

"Now now…" Sephiroth said, wagging a finger at Tifa. "I said I wasn't here to fight today and I meant it."

Pulling himself back together, Cloud began to stand back up. He confirmed that Tifa was unharmed, then said "Enough riddles Sephiroth, what do you want from me?"

"Fair enough then." Sephiroth chuckled madly. "Two things: First, I'm heading over Mount Nibel… Why don't you follow? I'm sure it'll be nostalgic for you to visit the reactor after all… And second, I have a gift for you."

What happened next happened almost too fast to follow. Sephiroth flew up from the floor, and disappeared by phasing through the rock ceiling. As he went, he threw a small dark object at Cloud, knocking Cloud off of his feet again. Everyone scrambled backwards, keeping themselves facing the object, thinking it was another Jenova monster. Of course, such was not the case.

"A Destruct Materia?" Red wondered, examining the object. "Why in the world would Sephiroth give us this?"

"Good question." Cloud agreed.

"Maybe it's symbolic…" Yuffie suggested. "Destruct Materia can cast 'Death' at high enough levels… Maybe this is his way of implying he'll kill us all?"

Everyone stared at the young ninja. "Wow… Did Yuffie just… …think?" Tifa asked, incredulous.

"Oh, very funny." Yuffie shot back.

"We're done here." Cloud said suddenly. "Let's get out of here already."

OOOOOOO

As we passed Vincent's chamber, the door swung open. Everyone spun around to find the man standing behind us. "Do you truly think more can be accomplished by aiding you?" He said to Barrett. "Do you believe I can atone by stopping Sephiroth from harming others?"

"Hell, I dunno." Barrett answered. "But for sure it's a better chance than just hidin' in that coffin!"

Nodding slowly, Vincent replied "Then, if you will accept it, I will accompany you on your journey. I was too late to save Sephiroth, or even Lucrestia… Maybe I can still save others, though."

"You understand we do most of our travelling in the daytime, right?" Yuffie said. "In the sunlight?"

"For the second time, young lady, I am not a vampire…" Vincent's words were strained and tired, but I swear that even then I saw the faintest hint of a smile briefly come to the corner of his mouth.

We left the mansion without further incident. Outside, the sun was still up, but sinking quickly lower in the western sky. Cloud and Tifa looked off in the direction of Mount Nibel. "That's the mountain we've got to cross?" Aeris asked, following their gaze.

"That's it alright." Tifa answered.

"Do we go now, or wait in town until dawn?" I asked.

Cloud answered "We wait. Five years ago Mount Nibel was crawling with green dragons, and I doubt that's changed. They're extremely powerful, we don't want to fight any more of them than we have to… And since most of them are nocturnal…"

"…we wait." I finished.

"Exactly."

We made our way back into town, and then towards the inn. As we walked, Cait said "Well, there's one good thing."

"What's that?" Tifa asked.

"The town's still here." Cait answered. "Considering everything you've told me about this Sephiroth it's kind of surprising he didn't re-burn the town Lass."

Tifa stared at the cat in surprise. "Huh… You're right." She said. "I wonder why he left it standing this time?"

"Mystery for another day." Barrett said. "Here's the inn."

"Alright everyone." Cloud announced standing on the doorstep of the inn, "Get plenty of rest, and be ready to be up and on the move before dawn. I intend to be clear of Mount Nibel before sunset tomorrow, and that won't be easy even if we don't have to stop for anything at all. So be ready, it's gonna be a hard day…"


	21. Keeper

Standard Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy, Green Lantern, or any of their related characters and concepts. This is a work of fan fiction.

"Courage To Change The Things You Can"

Chapter 21: "Keeper"

The night after our confrontation with Sephiroth in the Shinra Mansion, I was laying abed in the local inn, soundly asleep. At some point I began to dream. In the dream I was standing at the bottom of a wide ravine with steep rocky walls rising to either side. Strange plants filled the base of the ravine, mostly unusual forms of cacti though there were also types I couldn't begin to identify. It was night, and a brilliant yellow moon was high amid the sparkling stars.

I saw that Aeris was nearby, and thought she was a part of the dream until she said "Where are we? Is this some place on your world?"

"I don't think so." I replied. "That moon is the right size, but it's features are all wrong. So… Are we both dreaming here then?"

"I think so. I guess it's a part of the Cetra bonding thing."

"Not exactly." A familiar voice answered from behind us.

Spinning around, I quickly found the speaker standing on a large rock. "Ganthet."

"Ganthet!?" Aeris exclaimed. "So, you're the one who sent Christian to my world?"

"Indeed." The Guardian replied. "It has been some time since our last talk, and I thought it best I contact you. Especially given the coming challenge."

"Yeah, that's good." I said. "See, you and I have a lot to discuss. I've got some questions for you man. I've run across a lot of things that don't make much sense lately."

Nodding, Ganthet said "I suspect I know what you are going to ask. Ask anyway. I will do what I can to clear any confusion."

"Alright then, for starters what was the deal with that weird darkness in the mansion? And how are books from my world able to turn up here?"

"And could you maybe explain Red's storage trick?" Aeris added.

"Yeah." I laughed. "That last one is probably the least important, but it's the one that's bugging me the most."

To my surprise, Ganthet actually chuckled slightly at this. "And I fear it is the one question you've asked that I am not willing to answer. That is between you and Nanaki."

"Oh come on!" I exclaimed.

"Apologies." Ganthet said. "As for the rest, though; The darkness was, as Nanaki surmised, a result of the terrible atrocities Hojo committed there over many years. Of course, that is only a part of the answer. The mansion is, essentially, haunted, and will always remain so. But the forces haunting it are quite unlike those in the Gi Caves. Ordinarily, they are quite harmless, unable to amass enough power to cause anything. It was Sephiroth and Jenova's presence which temporarily allowed the effect you witnessed."

"Still strange that it wasn't in the game though…" I mused.

"The game was merely the creator's visions of this world interpreted through their perceptions. If they could make no sense of the event, they would have left it out." Ganthet explained.

"Isn't that dangerous to us?" Aeris asked. "I mean, what else might have been left out?"

"A valid concern." Ganthet admitted. " I will do what I can to warn you in advance of any major variances. In point of fact, that is a part of why I am here now. But first, to answer your second question, about the books, there are many ways a book written in one world could find it's way to another. There are more interdimensional travellers than you might expect. Planeswalkers, for example. And anyone who holds the power of a world's heart. Many others. They could carry objects with them, including books. And of course, if a person in Christian's world could see events in Gaia then a person in Gaia could see things there."

"That… actually makes sense." I said. "So, the other thing you said…? About why you're here now…?"

"This will be difficult." Ganthet began, "My purpose here is to assist you. But, as a Guardian, I have rules and customs to obey, which will prevent me from just telling you everything… Christian, you know what is coming when you cross Mount Nibel tomorrow? The powerful enemy you are going to face?"

"The Materia Keeper." I answered. "Big armored magic-scorpion thing. Tougher than anything else on the mountain, but it wasn't really that big of a challenge."

"In game, no. In the real world… Suffice to say the game developers toned the creature down when none of their test players could defeat the realistic version."

"I don't like the sound of that." Aeris said.

Ganthet nodded. "And well you shouldn't. The difficulty, basically, is that the creature is extremely well armored against physical attacks, which ordinarily means you would defer to offensive magic. But in this case that won't work either, because the Keeper has a permanent 'Reflect' effect surrounding it's body."

"Nasty." I agreed. "But wait. Cloud and the others must manage to beat it somehow even without whatever you're here to tell us, right?"

"True… After a two-day battle. I seek to spare you that difficulty. There is a solution. But in line with the Guardian rules I spoke of before, I cannot just tell you. I can only tell you this: You already know how to deal with this kind of situation, because you have faced it in other games…"

Before I could ask for more details, I awoke in the inn. As I rolled over and drifted back to sleep, I tried to discern what Ganthet had been referring to. One thing came to mind, but I dismissed it as absurd…

OOOOOOO

We headed into Mount Nibel at the break of dawn. The landscape was the most bizarre I have ever seen, spiraling rock platforms, spiky pinnacles jutting out in all directions, narrow winding paths. The game's designers had captured the feel of the place very well. "What's with this place?" Barrett asked early on. "I've never seen anything like it."

"Me either." Yuffie agreed. "It's kind of weird."

Cloud said "Mount Nibel is unique. Nothing else like it in the whole world. I guess it's because of the Mako streams so near the surface."

"In Nibelheim, there were always legends and folktales about the mountain." Tifa added. "The people thought that the spirits of our dead congregated here."

"I can see why they might think so." Vincent said. "There is a feel to this place…"

"Just what I need." Yuffie murmured. "You know a place is scary when the scary vampire guy is freaked out by it." Tifa shushed the girl, but the look in her eyes shouted that she actually agreed with the ninja for once.

OOOOOOO

Most of our crossing was smooth. Cloud was right about the Green Dragons being nocturnal. We saw several dozen over that day but all but two were soundly asleep and didn't even stir at our passing. The two that chose to attack us were vicious opponents, every bit as powerful as you would expect a dragon to be, and it took the whole team to win both times. The game can call Vincent 'optional' all it wants, I assure you we would have been in deep trouble without him.

It was mid-afternoon, and we were past the reactors and the summit, on our way down the far side of the mountain, when the ground began to quake. Every few seconds, another shudder underfoot, each a little worse than the one before. "Incoming." I said aloud. "Something big, headed our way."

"Damn, what could it be!?" Barrett exclaimed. "The damn dragons didn't even shake the ground like this!"

Half our group, hearing Barrett's question, looked to Cloud and Tifa expecting them to have some idea. Both simply shrugged. Then, before I could speak again, the Keeper was on top of us, appearing over a rise and rushing forward to attack. It was indeed enormous, no less than thirty feet from head to tail and ten to the top of it's head from the ground. Identifying Cloud as the primary threat the creature focused in on him.

Cloud parried the thrusts of the Keeper's tail, deflecting the stinger which was almost certainly poisonous. Tifa and Red joined Cloud, one on either side, supporting his defense. Yuffie, Barrett, and Vincent stood at a distance attacking with bullets and shurikens. Cait tried to cast Bolt and was struck with his own spell for the trouble. Sword drawn, I ran to his side. The robot was down, a faint voice recording talking about rebooting. I looked to where the Keeper stood and saw that Ganthet had been right: This thing was no pushover.

Running to check on Cait for herself, Aeris slipped behind me and asked "Any ideas? Ganthet said you'd know what to do."

"One thought, but it's probably stupid… I mean, I don't even know if those other games are also based on real worlds or not. And even if they are it might not work here."

"Do we have a choice but to try?" She replied. "Tell me what you're thinking."

I sighed. "It has different names in different worlds, sword magic, sorcery, 'en'-spells… The idea is the same regardless of what it's called. Basic concept, you cast an offensive spell like Fire or Bolt, but instead of casting it on your enemy, you cast it on your, or your ally's, weapon. Then you attack with that weapon, and when you hit the enemy, in addition to whatever damage the weapon does, the spell energy does it's damage too. And since the energy is in a weapon, it passes right through reflect like it's not even there…"

"That's got to be it!" Aeris insisted. "Let's try it!"

"And if it doesn't work?" I retorted.

"Nothing ventured." Aeris said. "Now, what should I cast?"

"Alright… Give me Blizzard." I said.

I stood still, afraid to move my blade while Aeris was casting, out of concern that it might throw off her aim. She cast the spell normally, and I watched with some fascination as the blade of my sword glowed bright blue, then iced over. The ice flowed into the metal in moments, leaving the blade looking normal but for the faintest sheen of icy blue light. I nodded to Aeris, then said "Well… Here goes nothin'…"

I charged the Keeper from it's right side, blade held high. At the last moment, I vaulted off of a large rock and swung the blade in a downward arc, slicing a thin dint into the monster's armor. It wasn't the dint that mattered though. As I cut through, doing little damage with the blade itself, the spell energy surged out of the sword. The Keeper's entire body shuddered as it took the brunt of the Blizzard spell.

Landing, I was ready to cheer out loud. But then I swung again, and got no spell effect. Annoyed with me, the creature swung one of it's many legs outward, and before I knew what was happening I was thirty feet away, landing in a mountain shrub alongside the path.

Aeris ran to my side. "Are you okay!?"

"Fine." I answered. Pulling myself to my feet, I looked at my sword, then the Keeper. "Well, it was an idea anyway. But it looks like a sword can only hold a spell for a single blow."

"Don't give up on this just yet." Aeris argued. "It worked. It did hurt the creature…"

"Yeah, but you can't keep casting Blizzard over and over and over for every swing I take. Even you would run out of juice way too fast."

"True, but that's not what I've got in mind. I want to try something… I can't cast over and over, but what if I cast once… and keep the power flowing continually?"

I stared at her. "You can do that?"

"Beats me. Let's find out."

"Are you sure trying this won't hurt you?"

"Not totally." She admitted. "But I really don't think so."

Given even the slightest chance of it harming her, I wasn't happy with this plan. Aeris didn't give me a chance to argue though. She cast the Blizzard spell, and as the energy flowed into the sword once more she held out her hand, channeling power continuously. "Are you alright?" I shouted to her, "Can you manage this?"

"For a while, yeah." She answered, a slight strain to her voice. "You'd better hurry though."

"Right." I nodded. Once again I attacked from the Keeper's right flank. This time, as expected, the spell stuck with me, triggering with every slash I made. I didn't take long for the monster to decide I was now a bigger danger than Cloud and it turned to face me. I did my best to fight defensively, but found myself being pushed back. Just when it looked like I was going to be struck and thrown clear again, Cloud appeared from over the Keeper's head, leaping high and landing next to me, parrying an attack intended for me. He then swung in a full arc, slashing into the nearest leg. As he did so, the energy of a Fire spell flowed out of his sword. "How…?" I started to ask.

Cloud laughed. "It took Red about thirty seconds to figure out what you and Aer were doing." He swung again, driving the monster back with a Fire spell, then added "Of course, no one else can do what Aeris is doing right now. I've got Teef, Red, and Vincent taking turns keeping Fire on my sword."

We both struck together, then I said "That's good. I'm not sure how much longer Aeris can keep this up."

"She won't need to." Cloud boasted. "Now that we've got a way to hurt this thing, I plan to end this right here and now. You with me?"

"Damn straight."

"Good. Follow my lead. I'll go left you go right. Mirror my pattern."

Cloud ran to the left, charged, and slid in under the Keeper's belly. I moved to the right, and was about to attack underneath when I realized that if I was mirroring Cloud's attack and he went under, I needed to go over. Getting a running start, I jumped over the monster's back. We struck simultaneously. Fire from below and Ice from above. The opposing energies met halfway and exploded. Unfortunately for the Keeper, that halfway point was inside it's body. Quite simply, it never stood a chance. Cloud and I rushed to get clear as the creature erupted from within and fell to the ground, already dead.

OOOOOOO

In the aftermath of the battle, there was no time to celebrate. Aeris was too weak to walk on her own, Cait still wasn't fully back on-line (Though at least his movement drivers had loaded, so he could follow us) and Cloud was still as anxious as ever to get off of Mount Nibel before sunset. He pushed for us to continue, and we managed a slow progress the rest of the way down the mountain.

The sun was just sinking below the horizon when we made camp. Barrett started a fire, and everyone gathered in close. I noticed a look of concern to Cloud's face and decided to ask about it. "We're coming up on Rocket Town." He explained. "There's nothing for us to do there unless Sephiroth turns out to be waiting again… What worries me is what's next. Rocket Town is the end of this road. Literally. There's nothing beyond it but grasslands and then the ocean. Where are we supposed to go if Sephiroth isn't there?"

"We'll figure something out." Yuffie yawned. "We always do."

"Maybe…" Cloud whispered.

"Here's my question." Vincent said staring right at me. "That maneuver was unlike anything I've ever seen. And there is very little I've never seen. Where did you get it from?"

"I'm curious as well." Red agreed. "In spite of it's limitations, it was an incredible technique."

I shook my head. "I can't take credit. A few years ago I had some interactions with a pair of adventurers. Little guy named Vivi that was a skilled mage, Big Barrett-sized guy named Steiner who was almost as good with a sword as Cloud. They did that trick when they needed an extra boost. When I saw how strong that monster was, it just came back to me."

"Lucky for us it did." Tifa said. "I'm not sure we would've won that battle otherwise."

"Nah," I argued, remembering Ganthet's words, "We coulda won, it just would've taken forever."

"Probably. No matter." Cloud said. "Everyone rest up. We'll reach Rocket Town tomorrow…"


	22. Love and Rocket(s) Town

Standard Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy, Green Lantern, or any of their related characters and concepts. This is a work of fan fiction.

"Courage To Change The Things You Can"

Chapter 22: "Love and Rocket(s) Town"

Grasslands. Open plains. Bright cloudless sky. For the first three days after leaving Mount Nibel, that was all we could see ahead of us, or to either side. On the fourth day the mountain's summit slipped below the horizon behind us, and still there was nothing else to be seen but the narrow dirt road leading the way towards Rocket Town.

"Man," Yuffie began to complain, "Couldn't Shinra have built this place a little less out of the way?"

"I suspect that out of the way was the entire point." Red answered.

Cait agreed. "Exactly Lad. You see, when a rocket with enough thrust to reach orbit takes off, there's a tremendous shockwave. Anyone too close could actually die just from the pressure, and even miles and mile away you'd have the risk of property damage."

"I guess that makes sense." Yuffie nodded.

Following closely behind them, Aeris and I were side by side, 'speaking' silently to each other. "So, you said we were gonna get one last team member in this town?" she asked. "What's he like?"

"Cid?" I had a hard time not laughing out loud. "Oh man, how can I describe Cid? He's ex-Shinra, a pilot who planned to be Gaia's first astronaut. Didn't work out yet, but he's gonna get his chance. What I should warn you about is, his language. Seriously, he makes Barrett's mouth seem like the mouth of a saint."

Aeris stared at me in disbelief. "I grew up in the slums Christian. I've heard it all. And that still doesn't seem possible…"

"Heh. You'll see."

"I'm not sure I want to."

I stepped closer, put an arm around her waist. "For whatever it's worth, most of Cid's blusterous exterior is just that: bluster. Deep down underneath it all he's actually a pretty good guy. In any case it's Shinra that matters. Rufus should be in town when we arrive, so lemme fill you in on what we should expect…"

OOOOOOO

Two days more and the pinnacle of the Launchpad peaked into view over the northern horizon. We came to the base of the pad a couple of hours later. Shinra number twenty-six was in a sad state, rusted, decaying, slanted at an alarming angle. "I had heard there was some kind of disaster during the final launch attempt." Cait said, staring up at the rocket. "It's why Shinra cut the funding."

"Damned shame too." Tifa said. "This was the one that would've actually put a person up there. Just like Shinra to worry about costs at the last minute…"

"When did this happen?" Yuffie asked.

"I'm not sure exactly." Tifa answered. "It was right around the time the war ended though. Why?"

Yuffie scowled up at the rocket. "Because that's your answer, I'll bet."

Half the group didn't follow what Yuffie meant by that remark. The rest of us just stared at her. "Aw crud, she's right." I said. "It makes perfect sense in context."

"What does?" Tifa asked. "I'm not following you…"

"Neither am I." Cloud admitted.

"The rockets." I said. "Shinra never really wanted a space program, did they? It was all about developing rockets powerful enough to use as ballistic missiles against Wutai. Then when the war ended, they didn't need that anymore. So they scrubbed the program, in spite of it's potential, at the first excuse."

"Their list of crimes just gets longer and longer with each passing day." Red said, shaking his head.

"So where's the town?" Tifa asked.

"Remember what the cat said about the takeoff blast…" Barrett told her. "The town'd have ta' be outta range."

"The road continues on." Aeris pointed out. "Should we follow?"

"Yeah." Cloud replied. "Let's hit the town, see what we can find."

OOOOOOO

We walked into town a short while later, passing the Shanghai Inn and finding our way to the town center. Along the northeast corner of the square stood a beautifully maintained home with a white-picket fence and a small aircraft in the backyard. "Cid's home." I thought to Aeris, nodding towards the house.

As we stood an elderly man walked up and began speaking to Cloud. "Welcome young man, welcome!" he began. "Have you been admiring the rocket?"

"It's incredible." Cloud replied, looking back the way we had come from, to where the top of the launching platform was still just visible.

"That she is. Of course it's pretty badly rusted out now. The Captain though, he says she'd still be recoverable if only Shinra'd pay."

"Who is the Captain?" Vincent asked.

Our new acquaintance startled backwards at Vincent's appearance and the sound of his voice, but he recovered quickly and answered "Captain Highwind of course. A great pilot, woulda been the world's first spaceman too… That's his place over there." He indicated the same home I had noticed.

"Meebe we should talk to him." Barrett said.

"Good idea. Let's go." Cloud started to walk towards the house when the old man stopped him.

"One more thing young man. Thanks for putting up with this old fellow's ranting over the rocket… It's kinda a hobby of mine you see. Anyways, here, take this as a token of appreciation." He handed Cloud a sword, then walked away.

Holding the new blade at arm's length, Cloud looked up and down the blade. "Nice." He finally said. "I wonder where the old guy got ahold of something like this?"

Also examining the weapon, Red replied "I'm wondering too. Do you not recognize it? This is a blade of legends… Yoshiyuki, by name. It is said that it's power grows greater the fewer allies are by your side."

Cloud looked at the weapon with even greater respect, but said "Not too useful then. We've got a full house with us."

"It's all in how you look at it." Vincent told him. "I'd keep that close if I were you… Even a 'full house' can be whittled down quickly after all."

"Yeesh. Bring the place down why don'tcha?" Yuffie said.

OOOOOOO

We walked around the perimeter fence to Cid's backyard and examined the aircraft. You read that right, we didn't barge through his home uninvited like you do in the game. Always thought that RPG convention of being able to barge into homes was odd. Anyway, we were looking the plane over and just as Cloud and Yuffie were about to hop the fence for a better look the back door of the house opened and a short woman emerged. She was older than most of our group, at least thirty-five, maybe forty, but still quite attractive. "May I help you?" She asked.

"Erm… Sorry to bother you ma'am." I said.

"We just wanted a look at the plane." Cloud said. "Are you the owner?"

"No, the plane belongs to Ci… …the Captain. I'm Shera."

"I don't suppose there's any chance this Captain would be willing to give us a ride somewhere?" Tifa asked.

"He might." Shera answered. "Though, you'd have to ask him yourself. And of course he won't be going anywhere until after President Shinra's visit."

"What!?" Barrett exploded. "Dat little worm's comin' here!? Why!?"

Shera flinched back but said "We don't know for certain… The Captain though, he thinks Rufus is planning to reinstate the space program. Or at least he's hoping such. That's where you'll have to go to find him… He out working on number twenty-six again. He's so sure the rocket can be repaired…"

"We've gotta go all the way back out there?" Yuffie exclaimed.

"Sounds like." Cloud said. "Let's go everyone." He turned to Shera. "Thank you miss."

OOOOOOO

We found Cid just where a player of the game would expect: busily working on his rocket. When we entered the rocket he turned and swore. "Who're you!? What the hell'r you doin' in my rocket!? This is private damned property!"

"We mean no intrusion." Vincent said calmly. "We are seeking Captain Highwind. Are you him?"

"Hell yes I'm Cid Highwind! Who wants to know an' why?"

"We were hoping to hire your services Captain." I said. "We need a way to continue following a dangerous man beyond Rocket Town, and your plane is our best bet."

"We can pay." Aeris added.

Cid rubbed his chin. "Well little lady, the promise 'O money does help. But I can't leave jus' yet. I'm expecting good news you see, and I wanna be here in town for it."

"Da world's at risk!" Barrett shouted. "We can't wait!"

"My rocket's at risk! I can't wait!" Cid shouted back. He and Barrett began loudly cursing each other and were on the verge of a fight when Cloud, Vincent, and Cait forcibly pulled Barrett back.

"Can you give us just a moment?" I said to Cid, then turned and joined the others. "Look, Barrett…" I said, "I don't like it either. But think of it this way: If we wait we can listen in, find out what Rufus is really after. Maybe we'll get a hint about Sephiroth."

"Well…"

We turned back to Cid. "Sorry about this." Aeris said. "We can wait."

"Alright then. Guess I got too worked up too." Cid answered. "It's just… You can't know what this means to me… I woulda been the first man in space you know. If it weren't for dat Shera anyways… Look, go back to my place, have Shera fix you some tea… I'll be there shortly, and after I meet with Rufus, we'll work somethin' out."

"Sounds good." Cloud agreed. "Let's go everyone."

OOOOOOO

Back at Cid's, we were welcomed into the kitchen by Shera. Cid barged in mere minutes after us, cursing and ordering Shera to make tea. He headed down the back hallway still cussing loudly. "Why do you put up with that!?" Yuffie demanded.

"It's not so bad…" Shera said. "You get used to it after awhile. And of course it's really my fault that the final launch attempt failed."

"Cid said something like that at the rocket." Cait said. "How was it your fault?"

Shera placed a tea kettle on the stove, then sat and told us her story, which was identical to the story given in the game. When she finally finished, Tifa said "Forgive me but I don't see any fault here."

"Yes. It sounds to me like you may well have saved Captain Highwind's life." Red agreed.

Just then, Cid burst back into the kitchen. "What the damned hell woman! They still don't have any tea? Fix the damned tea already!" He plopped down hard into the chair Shera had abruptly vacated.

Yuffie leaned in close to the rest of us and whispered "I say we kick his butt. Who's with me?"

"Don't tempt us." I whispered back.

"Are you sure there's something good inside this guy?" Aeris thought to me.

"Just give him a chance." I answered. "Though I have to admit Yuffie's idea is tempting."

To Cid, Cloud was saying "We really don't need any tea…"

"Shutup!" Cid exploded at him. "You shut the damned hell up and drink the damned tea right now! Shera! Hurry it the hell up!"

"Coming! I'm coming!" Shera answered meekly. As she began to pour a knock sounded at the door and an older woman looked in. "Captain? They're here."

"Bout damned time!" Cid grumbled. He turned to Cloud as he stood. "You jokers wait here and drink. I'll be back after I get the good news. We gonna celebrate tonight, an' I'll get you where you need to go tomorrow!" Cid rushed out the door, slamming it behind him.

"You're leaving him." Yuffie said to Shera. "That's all there is to it."

"Oh no, I swear to you, the Captain's not usually this bad. He's just on edge today is all."

OOOOOOO

=== Begin Third-Person P.O.V. – Cid ===

Cid Highwind walked out into the dusty streets of Rocket Town and looked towards the town's main gate. He saw the approaching forms of Rufus, Palmer, and a team of guards. "Palmer…" The pilot thought, "Why'd he have to bring the damned fat man? Ah hell, I guess he'd have to come. Head 'O the space program after all…"

"Captain Highwind!" Rufus hailed as they approached. "It's good to finally meet you. I've heard good things from many quarters in regards to your skills."

"Erm… Thanks. So, is your visit bringing the good news I'm hoping for?"

Rufus looked at Cid oddly. The pilot felt his heart sink as the expression Rufus had screamed that he in fact did not know what Cid was talking about. "But if it's not about the rocket…?" Cid wondered.

"Palmer, go ahead with your part please." Rufus said.

Palmer nodded and walked past Cid, slapping him on the back as he went. "Good 'ta see you again Highwind." He said.

Cid watched Palmer as the executive walked towards his home, then turned back to Rufus. "I don't get it… If you're not reinstating the space program like we thought, why come here anyway?"

Rufus laughed. "That's why you thought I was coming? The space program? Captain, take me at my word, so long as I am in charge there will be no more space program… Why fling gil at that when there's so much profit to be had right here on the ground?"

"Then why…?" Cid asked, dumbfounded.

"I'll cut to the chase Highwind. I need your plane. The Tiny Bronco, I think you call it?"

"What!?" Cid exploded into a string of explicatives. "First you take the rocket, then the airship, and now you want my plane!? Screw you! NO! Do you hear me!? Hell NO!"

Shaking his head, Rufus said "I think you misunderstand the situation Captain. I'm taking nothing from you… The rocket, the airship, the plane… They all belong to Shinra to begin with. I'm simply taking what belongs to me." Rufus glanced at his guards. "Gentlemen? Detain the Captain. You can release him once I've gone."

The guards drew their weapons, and Cid wondered what he was going to do…

OOOOOOO

===End Third Person P.O.V. ===

Inside Cid's house, we waited. Tifa stood, watching out the window, when she stiffened and said "Palmer! He's coming this way!"

"Everyone hide." Cloud said.

"Almost everyone." I added. "He won't recognize Vincent or me."

"Good thinking. Find out what he wants." Cloud said.

The room was barely cleared when Palmer burst in the door, not even knocking, and helped himself to a seat. "Hello Shera!" he exclaimed. "Ahh! Tea! Excellent." Downing the cup in a single gulp, Palmer spat in back out all over the room. "What? No lard? Sheesh, no one knows how to make anything right."

"If I may ask sir, what do you want?" Vincent asked, staring at Palmer. "It's quite rude to simply burst in like this."

Palmer chuckled. "Rude, bah. Still you're right. I'd best get to work… The plane's not gonna confiscate itself now is it?"

"The plane? You're taking the plane!?" Shera asked.

"Sure thing. Now if I remember, the back door is this way, right?" Palmer headed down the back hallway.

As Cloud and the others emerged from hiding, Shera was despondent. "He's going to steal the plane!" She exclaimed.

"Oh no he isn't!" Barrett rumbled. "Let's stop the fatso!" He rushed down the hall and we all followed close behind…


	23. No Emerson, No Lake, Too Much Palmer

Standard Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy, Green Lantern, or any of their related characters and concepts. This is a work of fan fiction.

"Courage To Change The Things You Can"

Chapter 23: "No Emerson, No Lake, Too Much Palmer"

"Oooo… Are you prepared to face the lukewarm wrath of a dangerously obese corporate executive? Yeah… You can probably handle this one yourself…" –Prima's Unofficial Strategy Guide, commenting on the Palmer Boss Fight.

I've included the above quote for a reason. Having played the game many times, I was expecting our battle with Palmer to be a pushover. I wasn't entirely right. Don't get me wrong here now, I'm not planning to tell you that Palmer was actually a difficult opponent. It's just… Do you know that old saying that 'It's a poor carpenter that blames his tools'? Palmer wasn't that big of a threat, but it was his own incompetence that did him in. His weapon, that funky mako gun, was an entirely different story.

What I'm saying is, in the hands of someone who actually knew how to use it, that gun could have easily ended us. Even the handful of near-misses Palmer managed to get hurt like direct hits from tier-three spells, and I shudder to think what would've happened if he'd actually hit anyone dead-on…

In any event, we followed Palmer down the back hallway of Cid's home and through the door to the yard where the plane was kept. Palmer proved surprisingly fast for such a large man; he was already attempting to climb into the cockpit, though his mass was slowing the climb. Cloud and Barrett rushed forward and grabbed ahold of Palmer's legs, trying to pull him down, but the man had a death-grip on the plane and even with their extra weight he hung on tenaciously.

As Cloud and Barrett pulled down, Palmer kept trying to pull up. He grabbed for whatever hand holds he could find. One of them was, of course, the main ignition switch. The engine started running, propellers whirling dangerously close to both Palmer and our friends.

Wondering what to do, I stood watching the spectacle. Suddenly, something flew past my head, and it took a moment to realize what it was. One of Yuffie's shurikens. The metal star struck home, and Palmer screamed loudly, letting go of the plane and falling. Cloud and Barrett jumped out of the way, and Palmer pulled the shuriken from his rear and faced us. "Alright then!" he exclaimed. "If that's how you wanna do this!" He pulled the gun and took a shot at Yuffie, who dodged it easily.

"Naah nah!" The little ninja shouted back. "And you can keep the star too… I don't want it back after where it hit you!"

Now even angrier than before, Palmer fired off a number of shots, all of which went far astray of any of his actual targets, though one managed to fry the television antenna off Cid's roof. The damaged aerial tilted over but didn't fall.

Having taken cover behind a stone fence row, we peered over the top to where Palmer stood in front of the plane. "I'm open to suggestions." Cloud said.

"This guy's a gimp." Yuffie said. "He'll never actually hit any of us, let's just rush him."

"Too risky." Vincent countered, "Though I do agree with your assessment of the man's battle competence."

"We need that plane." Red said. "Whatever we do, it is imperative that the aircraft not sustain damage."

"Maybe a few of us should distract Palmer away from the plane while the rest of us sneak around and slip away with it." Tifa said.

I nodded, hoping that just maybe we could prevent the plane from losing it's airworthiness. "Good. But can anyone here actually fly a plane?"

"I can laddie." Cait said. "I'm programmed with vehicle control data. Of course, moggie here won't fit in the cockpit…"

"Come with me." Vincent said. "We'll slip around, get aboard, then you can direct me in what to do."

"And the rest of us?" Yuffie asked.

"The rest of us play chicken with big-boy." Barrett told her. He then leapt into the open and took a shot at Palmer, running for another place of cover as he went. Palmer responded to the taunt, allowing Aeris and Red to cast attack spells. Both chose Bolt 2. Palmer shrieked as the spells struck, then took aim and fired again. Aeris ducked down in the clear, but Red was almost hit. His fur was smoldering as I knelt down over him.

"Are you okay?"

"A cure would be appreciated, but he technically missed." Red answered.

While Aeris healed Red, I turned my attention back to Palmer. The bolt spells hadn't hurt him as badly as I would have thought, though what little hair he had was on-end. The man laughed, making a rude gesture, and started to turn back to the plane…

OOOOOOO

=== Begin Third-Person P.O.V. – Vincent ===

Vincent crept the long way around the battle, slipping through bushes, around homes, behind fences and through a drainage culvert. A former Turk, enhanced by Hojo's experimentation, he was the absolute master of this kind of stealth. Ordinarily, no human being alive would have had the slightest chance of detecting his movements. Of course, ordinarily he wouldn't have been attempting to sneak about in the company of a robotic cat with a giant white moogle. Vincent counted himself lucky that Palmer was so clueless. With Cait in tow, no one else could've missed what was happening.

Not that it was Cait's fault. The cat did everything right, but there's only so much you can do when you are as big as the moogle. In any event, the duo managed to make their way around to the far side of the plane and slip in without being noticed. They hid in the bushes waiting for a chance to make the final rush to the plane.

As they waited, Cait whispered "Are you sure you can do this lad? Airplanes are complicated machines after all."

"Do we have a choice?" Vincent replied. "Besides, I had a few basic piloting lessons in my Turk days. Thirty years ago, but I doubt the controls have changed all that much."

"I hope you're right laddie." Cait said. "Then again, even if you can't fly the plane, we'll still be inside it ready to chase Palmer out if he makes it aboard."

Vincent grinned slightly. "Yeah. There is that." At a sudden sound of metal, Vincent looked up to the roof of Cid's house. The damaged antenna tilted a little further, but still didn't break off. He looked back to the fight. "Let's go."

Vincent ran to the open hatch and boarded the plane, Cait following close behind. As they reached the cramped cockpit, he saw that Cait really wouldn't have been able to fit. Slumping into the pilot's seat, he examined the controls. "I was right. Not too different from what I remember, though not exactly the same either. Okay, walk me through it…"

OOOOOOO

===Resume First-Person P.O.V. ===

I noticed Vincent and Cait beyond the plane as Palmer started to turn back that way, and knew that even he couldn't fail to notice the cat. I needed to do something, and fast. At that moment, Tifa was by my side. "Any ideas?" She asked.

"You trust me?"

"Guess so. Why?"

I whispered my idea to her. She nodded in agreement, and I moved out of cover. Seeing me, Palmer turned back and took aim. I began to walk in a slow circle, facing Palmer who turned to keep me in sight. He fired three times, but in every case he was aiming at where I had been rather than where I was going. A quarter-circle around placed us in a position that had Palmer facing away from both Vincent and the rest of our team.

I risked a quick glance towards where Vincent was, confident Palmer was too oblivious to notice. Ex-Turk and cat were both boarding the plane. Drawing my sword, a fell into a combat stance but didn't advance. No point, since all I had to do was keep the man distracted.

We faced each other for over a minute, and it looked like the distraction might work perfectly. Then, from out of the plane, came the sound of Cait shouting loudly "NO! Not that one! No!" Palmer swung to face the plane, as the left propeller spun faster and the plane started to turn in an arc, taking the prop directly towards him. Palmer ducked faster than I would have thought a man of his size could, rolled under the prop, and returned to his feet. He took aim at the cockpit.

At this, I rushed in hoping to catch Palmer off guard. Tifa did the same. Palmer swung the gun around to shoot at her, but she ducked under the shot and threw a might punch directly at his stomach. Now, I don't want to disgust anyone, but have you ever seen that guy in X-men who is so fat you can't hit him because you'll get stuck? Yeah, it was like that. Tifa stared incredulous at her hand, then up at Palmer who laughed. Cloud jumped in from the sidelines and pulled her free, both of the falling to the ground.

Palmer made yet another rude gesture, obscene, actually, then took aim. Even he couldn't have missed at such a close range. Everyone else moved to stop him, but there wasn't anything any of us could have done in such a short time…

OOOOOOO

=== Begin Third-Person P.O.V. – Cid ===

"Now hold on jus' one damned minute!" Cid shouted as Rufus walked away. "Shinra may've paid for that plane originally, but I bought it from you fair an' square! Paid in damned full you little snit!"

Rufus stopped and looked back over his shoulder. "Perhaps… Not that it matters. You may consider this Eminent Domain. The Bronco is mine again, and will remain so for as long as I have need of it. After that, if I happen to be in a generous mood, I may return it."

Rufus walked away, satisfied that he had won. The guards advanced on Cid, guns at the ready. None opened fire; Rufus had, after all, ordered them to release Cid once he was gone. Looking at the guards, Cid tossed aside his cigarette and, laughing, produced an object from under his jacket. He held out his right hand and shook twice. The mystery object instantly extended into a full sized Lance.

Rufus' unfortunate guards never knew what hit them. In an instant, Cid was in the thick of the group, swinging and thrusting the lance, cutting down the guards. Only one even managed to get a shot off, and it ricocheted off of the metal spear-point of the lance harming no one.

In the aftermath, Cid stood alone, surrounded by fallen guards. He lit a fresh cigarette, then looked in the direction Rufus had gone. "Time ta' give junior the damned whuppin' he's got comin' to him…" Cid grumbled under his breath. Cid stalked off after Rufus, who had gone to wait for Palmer at the Shanghai Inn. Before he reached the inn, though, Cid was stopped by Shera.

"Captain!" She exclaimed pulling on his jacket, "Captain, President Shinra needs to wait! There's a bigger problem!"

Cid laughed a short, curt laugh. "Bigger problem? You mean Palmer? Yeah, he's big alright. Don't worry Shera, I'll get his butt too, drinkin' all my damn tea uninvited like always… Rufus is first though. Little snit was gonna take the Bronco!"

"No!" Shera insisted. "That's what I'm trying to tell you! Palmer is trying to steal the plane for Rufus!"

"What!? Ahh, no matter. That blubbery fool'll never even get the engine started."

Even as Cid said those words, he heard the all too familiar sound of the Tiny Bronco's engines starting up. "Son of a…!" He shouted, and ran towards home leaving Shera behind…

OOOOOOO

=== Resume First-Person P.O.V. ===

It looked hopeless. Palmer had Cloud and Tifa squarely in his sights, and no one was close enough to do anything about it in time. Then, with a loud snap, the damaged antenna broke off from Cid's roof and fell towards the ground. As this happened, Vincent was trying and still failing to regain control of the plane. The Bronco swung back around, just missing the back wall of the house. The antenna fell directly into the propellers. An ear-splitting shriek of metal on metal filled the air, and shrapnel flew in all directions.

At least two pieces of the metal hit Palmer. One tore through the Mako Gun, disabling it. The other knocked the executive in the back of the head, sending him to the ground. I thought he would be unconscious after such a blow, but Palmer pulled himself back to his feet.

"That's enough for me!" Palmer shouted. "But you'll regret this when I send in the guards!" He made yet another rude gesture, then ran, vaulting the picket fence more easily than seemed possible for him, and ran into the streets. The semi-truck was, of course, more than a match for him.

"Oof!" Yuffie exclaimed, cringing as Palmer went flying. "That had to hurt… At least I hope so."

"Never mind Palmer." Red answered her. "We have a bigger concern!"

Everyone turned. The Bronco was living up to it's name, bucking about in random directions. From within came the sounds of an argument between Vincent and Cait:

"You said to turn the dial to fifteen-thirty!"

"Not that dial! The other one!"

"Which other one!? Saying 'the other one' doesn't help much when there are a dozen other dials!"

"The red one! On the top row!"

"There are FOUR red dials on the top row!"

"There are? Oh dear…"

"You said you could fly!"

"I guess I was over-confident. Sorry Laddie."

"Sorry!?"

"We'd better go help." Cloud said.

"Do we have to?" I asked. "This argument is the most entertainment I've had in months."

"Let's just go." Cloud said shaking his head.

Together, we rushed to the plane and, carefully, darted between the propellers to the hatch. Climbing aboard we found Cait attempting to force his way into the co-pilot's seat. "You're not gonna fit!" Cloud shouted to him. "Let me in there!"

Cait relented and Cloud took the seat. Together, he and Vincent managed to stop the plane from spinning in circles, but now it was moving forward, and picking up speed quickly. We felt the wheels trying to leave the ground, but no one knew where the brakes were.

From behind, audible even over the engines, came the sound of loud cursing as Cid ran to catch up. "Hey! Hey! Stop! Stop that damned plane! Thieves! That's my damned plane!" He caught up just as we lifted off, but didn't reach the hatch. Instead, Cid was clinging to the outside.

Vincent grabbed the controls and managed to make a wide turn. As we passed back over the town, the left engine (The one whose propeller had shredded the antenna) began making a frightening sound, and we could hear gunshots. At least two bullets found their mark, and combined with the damage already taken the engines began to give out.

Suddenly, Cid appeared outside the cockpit window, looking down from over the top, cussing loudly. "Ditch!" Cid screamed once he stopped cursing. "Ditch in the water! It's our best chance!"

Vincent nodded and worked the controls as best he could, managing a controlled crash in the sea several miles from shore. "Now what?" Barrett wondered. "Do we sink?"

"Hell no!" Cid answered, finally coming in through the hatch. "I built this beauty to float. We'll be fine while I try to make repairs."

Cid stared at all of us, and Tifa said "We're sorry about what happened. We didn't mean to steal your plane, it's just that…"

Cutting her off, Cid said "Aw hell, I know that. Damned Palmer 'n Rufus are the thieves. Point of fact is, I'm glad ya'all kept her away from them, even if she did get banged up a little."

"So… What do we do now?" Yuffie asked.

Cid answered "You stay put. I'll get the engines fixed, and then you can figure out where to go from there. There's food and tea in the back compartment. So sit down, eat yer fill, and stay outta my hair 'til I'm done!" Cid stormed out the hatch, and no one had the nerve to follow him…


	24. Interlude at Sea

Standard Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy, Green Lantern, or any of their related characters and concepts. This is a work of fan fiction.

"Courage To Change The Things You Can"

Chapter 24: "Interlude at Sea"

The morning after our crash-landing, everyone except for Cid was gathered inside the main cabin of the Tiny Bronco. Cloud, Tifa, and Vincent were discussing possible options on how to proceed. Yuffie was seated by herself to the back, behaving oddly even for her. Aeris stood at the door, looking out over the sea. I noticed with some interest that Cait had hopped down off of his moogle and opened up a compartment in it's back. He was working on something inside, and Red and Barrett were standing to either side peering in with interest. Curious, I walked over and joined them. "What's up cat?" I asked.

"Repairs laddie. Moggie here has GPS circuitry, but it's not been working right since we took that reflected Bolt spell back on Mount Nibel."

"That was a nasty hit…" I said, remembering the battle.

"Aye lad, that it was." Cait agreed. "Knocked me clean off-line if you'll recall. What matters now though, is getting it working. That way we'll know exactly where we are."

Red glanced over at me. "I've told him not to worry over-much. I'm certain Mr. Highwind will have a sextant aboard. If need be, we need only wait 'til nightfall to obtain a general idea of our location."

"That's good." I nodded.

Looking into the Moogle's back, Barrett said "Will you look at this? Someone been holdin' back… I never seen circuits this advanced."

"Nor have I." Red said.

"Just don't be getting ideas about cannibalizing me for parts lad."

"Well… I could really amp up the gun-arm with some 'O this stuff…"

"Oh no!" Cait exclaimed, spinning around to face Barrett. "I need Moggie here!"

I tuned out as they began to bicker back and forth. Cait's mention of determining our location had reminded me of something important. I crossed the cabin and joined Aeris at the door. Owing to the close quarters, I didn't dare speak what needed to be said out loud, so I thought to her "Something I need to tell you about…"

"Alright."

"You remember I told you up front that there were some things I had left out of my descriptions of what was coming, since they were optional in the game… Well, we're approaching one of them now, and seeing as how so far every 'optional' event hasn't given us a choice in the matter…"

Aeris glanced up at me. "Okay, what's going to happen?"

"Actually, it's what I intend to prevent from happening." I answered.

"Oh? This should be interesting… What's coming that's bad enough you've decided to try and stop it?"

Before I could answer, Cid barged past us through the door, grumbling to himself. "Alright!" He shouted, "Everybody gather together! We've gotta talk!"

OOOOOOO

Everyone gathered as Cid had insisted, but we had to wait, annoyed, as he took the time to slowly down a cup of tea. Finally he said "Okay boys and girls, here's the damn deal: Thanks ta all the damage you an' Palmer did, the Bronco ain't ever gonna fly again."

"Aw crud…" Barrett answered.

Tifa asked "What can we do then?"

"Well, it'll take awhile… And a lotta hard damned work… But I can get the engines running again, and we can use her like a hydrofoil." Cid answered. "Sorry about the wait, but there's nothin' to be done about it."

"It's not a problem really…" Cloud said. "We're not sure where to go next anyway."

Cid eyed him for a moment, then asked "I never got the chance to ask… Just who the damned hell you chasin' after anyways?"

"Sephiroth." I answered when Cloud didn't reply.

The cigarette fell from Cid's mouth. "Seph… Damn! That's who the little snit Shinra said he was after too! Like hell I'm lettin' Rufus get the glory, I'm comin' with you!"

"But coming with us where?" Yuffie whined. "We don't know where to start looking."

"Heh… Maybe I got your back there." Cid told her. "Rufus said he wanted the Bronco to go to some 'Temple of the Ancients.' Maybe that's where Sephiroth is headed too…"

At Cid's words, everyone else turned to Aeris. "A Cetra temple?" Tifa asked her.

Prepared by my information, Aeris said "I guess it's possible… There was supposed to be one in the far south, west of Mideel on another island in that chain. It was built thousands of years ago though, it's be amazing if it was still intact."

"Either way, it sounds like we've got our next destination now." Cloud said.

Aeris shook her head. "Destination-after-next, actually… If the temple is intact, we won't be getting in without it's keystone. See, Cetra temples and other important buildings all had security systems to protect them. Without that stone, there's no way to open the door."

Barrett started to swear, then stopped himself mid-rant. Red glanced over. "Barrett?"

Shaking his head, Barrett explained "I was all set to get mad, right? Then I saw that this means Rufus can't get in the place either!"

"Or Sephiroth." Cloud said.

"Still, haste would be called for." Red advised us.

"Damn straight." Cid said, "So I'd best get back to work…"

OOOOOOO

Later that day, I was sitting outside, near the tip of one of the wings, when Aeris joined me. "You never got around to filling me in." She said. "On what you wanted to prevent, I mean."

"Right… Okay it's like this: We're really, really close to the eastern shore of the island continent Wutai rules over. When Cait figures out our location, and Yuffie sees that, she's going to try to convince us to make a stop at Wutai…"

"Ooh… Sounds like fun, really…"

"Heh… If we go anywhere near that place, Yuffie will steal every single piece of materia we own and run off to hide in the city…"

"What!? But… why…? I thought she had come around to really being our friend!"

"She has, in a way… I'm not really sure what triggers her to act this way. The thing is, even if it does happen, it's not necessarily a big deal. We'd get everything back, including Yuffie… I'd like to prevent the event for the purpose of gaining some time…"

"You're plotting further down the road…" Aeris said, seeing where I was going with my line of thought.

"Yeah… If the Temple gets opened up, that's it. There's no way to prevent the rest of what happens then, because there's no way to prevent Sephiroth from getting the Black Materia then… I still think I can save you, but we would have no choice but to go to Knowlespole which makes it harder…"

Aeris nodded, deep in thought. "But surely Dio has the keystone by now. Which means that if we don't go to the Gold Saucer to get it, Dio will hand it over to Rufus, but if we do go Cait will do it. So where's our opening?"

"Our opening is right here. If we don't waste time at Wutai, we get to the saucer sooner than normal… Maybe even before Rufus finds out he needs the keystone and orders Reeve to steal it with Cait… Then… Then, I don't know… Maybe we take it and run before anyone knows what's happening…"

"But that leaves the others to face Sephiroth without us…"

"Yeah… Like I said, I've not gotten that far yet…"

From inside the plane came a sound of triumphant yelling. "I got it! I got it!" Cait exclaimed.

We went to join everyone else, and found Cait happily explaining how he had managed to repair his GPS system. He then pushed a button inside the moogle's still-open back. The moogle's eyes glowed, and it projected a map of Gaia onto the wall, with a flashing point indicating our position.

"Hey!" Yuffie exclaimed, "Hey! Look! We're right near Wutai! You guys, we should make a pit-stop there! You know my dad's the Shogun, I'm sure he'll help us out!"

"Yeah right kid." I thought, though I had to admit that Yuffie was surprisingly convincing. I probably would've fallen totally for the trick if I hadn't known in advance.

As the others started discussing the benefits, Aeris spoke up "I appreciate the offer Yuff, but I don't think it's a good idea…"

"What? Why not?"

"Um… It's just a Cetra thing… Senses, you know… Telling me it's a bad idea…"

"Brilliant." I thought to Aeris.

"Then we won't go." Cloud said.

Yuffie continued to argue. "But… But…"

"I'm sorry Yuffie, but so far Aer has never been wrong. I trust her." Cloud argued back. "As soon as Cid finishes the engines, we go in search of the keystone."

"And what if it's in Wutai!?" Yuffie tried to suggest.

"Give it up brat." Barrett said. "Cloud trusts Aeris' senses and so do I."

OOOOOOO

We floated at sea for several days before Cid managed to get the Bronco's engines repaired. For the most part it was a relaxing pause, save for the constant sound of profanities emanating from the engine pods. Yuffie spent the whole time sulking, but I thought that I had succeeded in avoiding the Wutai theft scenario. I was wrong.

Near nightfall on the fourth day, Cid announced the engines were ready, and we agreed to head out the following morning. But when I woke up that morning, something was different. It took me several seconds to realize what it was; we were not rocking with the waves, but steady as if on dry land. I shouted to the others and we rushed to the cockpit, where we found Cid tied up and gagged.

"It was that damned little ninja!" Cid spat out when I removed the gag. "She came here last night, all 'I wanna learn how to pilot this thing!' So I showed her… Next thing I knew, I was waking up here all tied up!"

We looked out the windshield, and saw a wide beach backed by high rocky cliffs. "Where are we?" Vincent asked.

"Wutai." Red answered. "Or somewhere on it's landmass, at any rate."

"But why would she do this?" Tifa asked. "I mean, if she wanted to come home this badly we would've dropped her off… Why do it this way?"

"Why do you think?" I answered, shaking my head in disgust. "Check your knuckles. The materia slots in them, I mean…"

Tifa didn't even have to look. She knew the moment I said it, and cut loose with a string of profanities that made Cid blush. "Let's get her…" she whispered, and I found myself very afraid for our erstwhile ninja…


	25. Materia Girl

Standard Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy, Green Lantern, or any of their related characters and concepts. This is a work of fan fiction.

"Courage To Change The Things You Can"

Chapter 25: "Materia Girl"

We gathered on the beach where Yuffie had ditched the Bronco. It didn't take long for Cid to determine that our ninja had sabotaged the engines somehow before running away, and so we were gathered in a circle, discussing how we should proceed. "How long to repair the engines again?" Cloud asked.

"Not as long as last time…" Cid answered. "Couple of days probably…. Damn, as much as I wanna go with you to get that little brat I guess I'd better stay here and get to work."

"Good thinking." Vincent said. "And now let me offer a suggestion as well… If we're actually going to chase Yuffie back to Wutai we should break up into smaller groups. That'll help keep us 'off the radar' of Wutai's guardians."

"Hold on though." Barrett said. "We've got no materia. No magic. A bigger group'd be safer, don'tcha think?"

"Agreed lad." Cait added. "If we break into groups we'll be weaker. Then what happens when we run into some kind of monsters?"

Vincent was unmoved. "I still insist that small groups are better. Wutai's samurai are far more dangerous than any of the local wildlife. Avoiding them is what's most important. With Cid remaining here, there are eight of us. We should go in pairs and regather once we're in the city."

"If we get there!" Barrett insisted. "We'll have no real firepower!"

From behind us came the sound of Red clearing his throat. "Perhaps these will be of assistance in this." He said. Turning, we saw Red sitting on his haunches behind a large spread of weapons: Grenades, Swift Bolts, Fire Veils, Bomb Arms, you name it, it was there.

"Where…?" Cid started to say.

I was done. I started to step towards Red, saying "Alright, that does it…"

Tifa tried to stop me. "Actually Christian, this might not be the best time…"

"No!" I insisted. "No, damn it, I'm tired of this." I stared straight at Red and said "Dude. Seriously. Where… In the hell… Are you carrying all this stuff?"

Rising to his feet, Red started to walk off in the direction of Wutai. As he went, he said "Apologies. I understand your frustration. To be quite blunt, though, I've come to like all of you too much to risk making your primitive hominid brains explode from the revelation."

For several moments we silently watched Red depart. It was Vincent who finally spoke. He took a bandolier of grenades and another of fire veils from Red's stash and said "The rest of you can pair off as you like… I'm going with the four-legged arsenal…" He ran to catch up with Red.

"I'm with Cloud!" Tifa announced.

"I'm with Christian!" Aeris echoed.

"Guess that leaves me with… Aw hell!" Barrett said, staring at Cait.

"It's not so bad laddie." Cait said. "We'll have fun, get ta' know each other better!"

"I hate cats…" Barrett grumbled. "Cid, you wanna change spots? I'm sure I could fix the plane…"

"Hell no!" Cid answered. "Nobody touches my baby but me!"

We divided up Red's supplies and headed north towards Wutai…

OOOOOOO

Three days later we arrived in Wutai. Everyone gathered together in front of the main gate. "Wow. Damn big city." Barrett said.

"Thirty years ago it was second only to Midgar." Vincent answered. "I suspect it's still so."

Aeris looked across the cityscape and settled her gaze on the Da Chao statues. "Look at that! I've never seen such large carvings before."

"Impressive." I agreed.

"Yeah, yeah. It's neat an' all. But we've got bigger fish ta' fry. How we gonna ever find Yuffie in all dis'?"

"Barrett has a good point." Cloud said. "We're into 'needle in a haystack' territory here. And it's made worse by the fact that Yuffie is, after all, Wutaiian royalty. More likely than not, anyone who's seen her will help her over us."

"All we can do, really, is start looking." Aeris said.

"True." Red agreed. "I suspect however that this will get worse before it gets better. Oh well, where should we start?"

"How about that bar over there?" I asked, indicating what I suspected was the bar where we would find the Turks.

"Sounds good. If nothin' else I can get a drink." Barrett agreed. We headed towards the bar together…

OOOOOOO

As we entered the front door of the bar, Tifa was the first to notice Reno and Rude. "Turks!" she exclaimed, and fell into a fighting stance.

Reno turned to face us at the sound of Tifa's voice. "Well well… If it's not Cloud Strife and his merry band. Averlanche, is it?" He stared at Tifa. "Cool your jets Lockhart, we're not here for you."

Tifa relaxed slightly but didn't return to a normal standing position either. "Why are you here then?" Cloud asked.

"None of your business, yo." Reno said. "Though I've got my guesses why you're here. Look, tell you what: As long as we're not assigned to track you specifically, you stay out of our way and we'll stay out of yours. Deal?"

"Deal." Cloud agreed.

"That's good yo. C'mon Rude." Reno said. The two started for the door, but when they got there Reno stopped, turned, and said "Oh, by the way. Regarding my guess on why you're here… There's a shop three blocks north of here. Big blue and green sign, says materia though they ain't got any. What they do got, at least as of thirty minutes ago, is a certain local princess. Have fun yo." Reno let the door swing shut as he left.

"Do you buy that story?" Tifa wondered.

"I do." I said. "Did you see the look on Reno's face? He's genuinely worried about something right now… In spite of what he said about leaving each other alone, I think he's hedging his bets towards getting us to help him if he needs it."

"Why in the world would we help him!?" Barrett demanded.

"I'm sure I don't know." I lied.

"We cannot ignore a possible lead." Red said. "We should go."

"Agreed." Vincent and Cloud said at the same moment.

OOOOOOO

A bell rang as we entered the 'materia' shop. A handful of customers we examining the shop's meager wares, and the clerk approached us. "Welcome! Feel free to look around, everything you see is for sale. No materia though. In spite of our sign, we simply don't have any anymore."

"That's alright miss." Vincent said. "We're just looking for someone."

We spread out around the store, and I started searching for the chest our ninja would be hiding in. It didn't help that there were actually quite a few chests scattered over the salesfloor. As I was looking, a came around a corner and found Red staring at one particular chest. He noticed me and backed to where I stood, never taking his eyes off of the chest. "Yuffie's scent is everywhere in this store." He whispered, "But it's incredibly strong around that place… I suspect that particular chest is not empty."

I nodded, and motioned for everyone else to join us. Once we were all in place, Cloud reached towards the chest intending to open it. Before he touched the latch, the top blew open and a brilliant white light blinded us all. We heard the sound of running feet, and Yuffie's laughter.

Ten minutes later when our vision finally cleared, we stepped outside. Red smelled the ground and said "She went east. Beyond that I can tell nothing."

"Then let's keep moving." Cloud said. "We have a trail, let's not lose it."

Just then, a trio of large men in the garb of Samurai appeared before us. And I mean, literally, appeared out of thin air. "Lord Godo wishes to speak with you." The largest said. Then, before I knew what was happening, we were somewhere else, standing inside a Wutaiian home.

"Greetings." Said a man I'd not seen before. "I am Shogun Godo."

"Not how this happened in the game…" I thought to myself, "But we had to come here next anyway…"

"You are Avalanche, correct?" Godo said. "My daughter has been in league with you?"

"Well, 'in league with' might be a bit strong, but yes, Yuffie has spent some time travelling with us." Cloud said.

The door shot in off of it's hinges, and Yuffie barged in. "Darned right I'm not in league with you! Midgar trash! Enemies of Wutai!"

"Calm yourself daughter…" Godo tried to say, but Yuffie turned on him next.

"And you! Surrendering to them! Cow-towing to them! Turning Wutai into a tourist trap! Mark my words, things will be different when I'm Shogun!" She turned and ran out.

Shaking his head sadly, Godo said "My apologies. My daughter dishonors Wutai by her actions. Go. Deal with her as you see fit. I will hold nothing against you in this."

OOOOOOO

Back out in the streets of Wutai, we trusted Red's nose to follow Yuffie's path. We made it several blocks with no difficulties, but then "I've lost the trail." Red said, raising his head. "It seems that Yuffie has been back and forth through this area several times recently. She could have gone into this building…" he indicated a door to our left, "That one…" another to our left, "Or that large house across the street." He looked to the right.

"Let's check the two on this side first." Aeris said. "Half of us in each. If Yuffie's not here we'll all check the big house."

"Sounds good." Cloud said. He led Tifa, Cait, and Vincent to the further of the left doors while Aeris, Red, Barrett, and I checked the nearer.

As we stepped through the unlocked door, Aeris called out "Hello? Is anyone here?" There was no answer. We found ourselves in a small entry room, with three closed doors, one on each of the inside walls. I reached towards the center door and opened it.

Cats. Cats everywhere. Beyond the door, the whole next room was filled with cats, at least a hundred of them, milling about, mewling, sleeping. "Um…" I said.

"I hate cats." Barrett said. He opened the door to the right. Another room filled with hundreds of cats. "What the hell?" Barrett grumbled. Aeris opened the left door. Cats again, of course. Then, as one, all of the cats in all of the rooms lifted their heads and stared right at us. We backed out slowly and slammed the door.

"Not uncreepy…" I said.

"Even if she's in there, she's not in there." Aeris agreed.

We waited several minutes, until Cloud's group returned. "No dice." Cait said. "And it looks like you didn't turn her up either then?"

"No." I said, "Though you might like what's in there."

"Later. Let's check the house…"

OOOOOOO

Cloud knocked on the door, but as with the creepy cat place there was no answer. "Should we enter?" Red asked. "This is someone's home after all."

"Actually it's not a worry." Vincent said. He pointed to a sign in the window. "The house is for sale. There's no one living here."

We crept in as quietly as possible. Yuffie, we knew, had to be in the building somewhere. It was just a matter of flushing her out. Silently fanning out, we examined the entire lower floor, finding nothing, then moved upstairs. As we were preparing to check the second floor, a partition screen caught my eye. There was an open window behind it, and just enough light was streaming in to cast a shadow on the screen. I tapped Cloud on the shoulder and pointed. He nodded and we moved towards the screen.

Once we were close enough, we charged. Yuffie must've seen us coming though, because she leapt up, over the screen, and ran laughing down the stairs and out the door.

The chase was on. Yuffie ran as fast as she could, but we were right behind her and the buildings in that part of town were too tall for her to leap to the roofs. We ran for several blocks, and it was clear that even Yuffie was getting winded. On the other hand, being the quarry gave her a reason to keep going, and she put on a burst of speed as we approached the edge of town.

Cloud rushed around a corner ahead of me mere seconds after Yuffie had rounded it. He stopped. We saw why once we caught up to him: Yuffie was nowhere to be seen. "What the…?" Tifa wondered.

"She was only ten seconds ahead of me." Cloud said. "Not enough time to reach the next corner even if she somehow doubled her speed. She's got to be close."

"Pssst! Look!" Cait said. He pointed to a slightly rocking jar against the wall. Cloud nodded and stepped towards the jar when Vincent stopped him.

"Wait Cloud." Vincent whispered. "If we just open the jar, she'll run off again. We need to do this in a way that disorients her."

A mischevious grin came across Aeris' face. "I've got an idea…" She whispered, and filled us in.

Two minutes later, everyone was in place. Cloud, Barrett, and Vincent surrounded the jar, and each reached out and took hold of it. Then they started shaking it violently while Tifa shouted "I've got her! I've got her! Over here!"

Yuffie jumped out faster than I've ever seen anyone move before or since. She started to run again, and as I said she was fast… But Cait was faster. Standing next to me sans moogle, he whistled and the moogle did as programed, jumping off of the roof and landing on top of Yuffie, pinning her to the ground.

We all gathered around the cursing ninja. "Get this thing off of me! Cait! Do you hear me Cait? This thing coulda broken my back! Do you realize what my father will do when he finds out you did this to me!?"

"Nothing at all." Vincent said. "Lord Godo said to do what we had to."

A funny look crossed Yuffie's face. "He wouldn't… Actually, I guess he would. So, I suppose you'd like your stuff back?"

"That's all we ever wanted." Aeris said. "Give the materia back and we'll call it even."

"Well, alright. C'mon, I'll take you to where it's hidden…"

OOOOOOO

Twenty minutes later we were in the basement of Yuffie's home. "You live by yourself?" Tifa asked. "At sixteen? I figured you'd still be in Godo's place."

"Go-dope?" Yuffie countered. "I got outta there when I was twelve, when I figured out what a lame-O he had become since the war."

"Look, Yuffie… Why did you do this?" Cloud asked.

Aeris added "Yeah, we thought you were our friend."

Head nodded, Yuffie said "It's like this… I've always hated Shinra and Midgar. The war, you know? They stole Wutai's honor… That's why I decided we needed more materia, to become stronger. And then Godo tried to stop me… That's when I went out into the world, robbing people. It was all for Wutai."

"Yuff, we get that. But why the sudden change now, when you seemed genuine for so long?" I asked.

"I WAS genuine!" she insisted. Yuffie was quiet for a time, then said "It was the rocket. Seeing the rocket, realizing what Shinra was really planning to use it for… Long range missiles that would've wiped Wutai off the map forever… It made me angry again. At everyone from Midgar…"

"Damn… That does make sense…" Barrett said.

"Like I said, we'll let it go." Cloud said. "Just tell where our materia is."

Yuffie pointed to the far wall. "Pull the red switch." She said.

Cloud walked over and examined the switches. "Red and blue." He said. He pulled the blue. Yuffie reacted in a heartbeat, diving for the door as the cage fell, only just barely making it out.

"Told you it was the red!" she said. "Oh, by the way, everything I said here was true, except for the part about actually giving the materia back. See you later!" She saluted and ran up the stairs.

OOOOOOO

Soon we were free and on Yuffie's trail yet again. "Don't feel bad Cloud." Aeris said. "About pulling the opposite switch, I mean. I think we all know that both switches must've been traps."

"Indeed." Red agreed. He looked towards a nondescript building. "She went in there."

We entered and found no one in sight, heard nothing either, at least at first. Then, from somewhere further inside, came a muffled scream, then another. A laugh followed. "Cloud, does that laugh sound familiar?" Tifa asked.

"Not really." He replied, "Though the screams sounded suspiciously like Yuffie. Let's check it out."

We carefully worked our way through the building, checking rooms one at a time. Finally we found a closed door. Light seeped through the doorjamb, and a man's voice could be heard as well. "Wowie-wow! Which one? Which one should I choose? Oh, it's like my birthday, such wonderful new toys!"

"New toys?" Cloud whispered.

"I'm telling you, I've heard that voice somewhere." Tifa whispered back. "I just can't place it right now."

"Me too." Aeris said. "I've met whoever this guy is somewhere before…"

"Let us go you pervert!" came Yuffie's voice.

Another female voice spoke up. "Get this through your thick skull! I. Am. A. Turk!"

"Turk?" Cloud wondered.

Red said "What Reno was concerned about, no doubt. Probably our acquaintance from Gongaga, Elena I think her name was."

"Let you go?" the man said. "Whyever would I do that? And as for you my dear Turk, I'm certain I'm owed a favor somewhere that would secure you for me."

"What the hell is goin' on in there?" Barrett asked.

"Let's find out." Cloud said. He stood and smashed open the door, stepping through the splintered ruins. Tifa followed, than the rest of us. The mystery man turned at the sound of the door crashing in, and Cloud and Tifa's eyes opened wide.

"Don Coreno!?" They both exclaimed…


	26. The Don and I

Standard Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy, Green Lantern, or any of their related characters and concepts. This is a work of fan fiction.

"Courage To Change The Things You Can"

Chapter 26: "The Don and I"

Don Coreno stared at Cloud, Tifa, and Aeris. A funny look crossed his face, and I was sure he recognized them and was about to start screaming in fear. Then he said "Do I know you? You look familiar, but I can't quite place you…"

Tifa glanced at Cloud. Raised an eyebrow. "Seriously?" she murmured.

"This guy's even dumber than I remember." Cloud answered.

Meanwhile, Coreno continued to babble. "Well, you all can be leaving now, whoever you are. I've got no time for this right now you see. Choices to make and all, a wife to choose…" He turned to face Yuffie and Elena, who were tied up on the floor. "And what a choice it is!" He said, bouncing excitedly.

"This again?" Cloud asked, exasperated.

"You guys! Get me outta here!" Yuffie shouted. "Come on, the materia thing was just a joke, honest! Funny, see?"

"Maybe we should let Coreno keep her." Tifa said. "It'd be a just punishment both ways."

"I HEARD THAT!" Yuffie shrieked.

"Oh calm down." Barrett told her. As he was speaking, there came a sound of something crashing in from somewhere in the building behind us. Shinra soldiers hunting Coreno, of course.

Coreno clapped his hands and a pair of large bouncer-types appeared from a far doorway. "I'll be making my decision elsewhere." He said to them. "Please escort my prospects out." Each of the men picked up one of the women and started for the door.

"Now hold on!" Cloud yelled. "Stop right there!"

Coreno turned, seemingly surprised. Apparently when he had dismissively told us to leave and turned away, he thought we had obeyed. "What? You're still here? Who are you people anyway?"

"We'll give you three hints." Cloud said. "Beat."

"Smash." Aeris added.

"Crush." Tifa finished.

Coreno's eyes grew wide with fear. "YOU!" he exclaimed. "Help! Help!" Coreno started to run away, heading for a side door. Before he got there, the door blew inward off of it's hinges and a trio of Shinra infantry rushed in.

"There he is! Don Coreno!" The lead soldier announced. "Capture him!"

Coreno turned on a dime and ran the other way, past us and towards the door his henchmen had exited through. Cloud and Vincent moved to stop him, but this proved to be a mistake. Not only did the Don get past them, but the soldiers mistook their movements for an attempt to protect him. "The Don has bodyguards!" One soldier said, and they all rushed to attack us.

The ensuing battle was best described as a 'curb-stomp.' Had the Shinra men been Soldier things would have been rougher, but simple infantry was no match for the eight of us. It took less than three minutes for all of them to be beaten and restrained. Of course, that still left Coreno with plenty of time to get ahead of us…

OOOOOOO

=== Begin Third-Person P.O.V. : Yuffie ===

Yuffie woke up to find herself tied to the side of a Da Chao statue's head. The ropes binding her were tight, and one of Coreno's henchmen was working on the second set of ropes tying her to the rock. She looked to her right and saw Elena in a similar position. The man tying Elena's ropes finished first and came to aid his partner.

While they worked, Coreno was gloating over his 'victory.' "And now I'm free!" he said. "I need only choose my wife and all will be perfect!"

"Are you mental!?" Elena demanded. "I mean seriously, what is wrong with you?"

"Yeah! She's a Turk, I'm royalty, you've got the frickin' Shinra army hunting you 'shoot on sight' and all you can do is obsess over marrying someone?" Yuffie agreed. She looked down at the henchmen "Seriously guys, your boss is a melonhead!"

At Yuffie's feet, under his breath, she could just hear one of the men say "The princess here may have a point."

"Totally." The other whispered back. "But, he's payin' for this. As long as the gil holds out he can be as dumb as he wants." Finishing the knots, they stood and walked to Coreno's side.

"Just you wait 'til my partners get here!" Elena shouted.

"Nonsense!" Coreno insisted. "No one will find us here! Now then, you men go back into town and arrange a room for me and my bride at the Turtle's Paradise!"

"Gosh boss, are you sure that's wise?" One of the men asked. "You'd be all alone up here. If they do find you…"

"Bah! I'm rich, I'll pay my way out if so! Now go!"

"Great." Yuffie thought to herself. "What was I thinking? I just wanted what was right for Wutai… Now I've lost my friends, put the planet itself at risk, and gotten captured by some kind of lecher king…" She sighed and wondered how she was getting out of this one.

OOOOOOO

=== Resume First-Person P.O.V. ===

Following Coreno out the back door, we found ourselves in the city's main square. A broad expanse of cobblestone paving surrounded the Pagoda of the Five Gods. Coreno was nowhere to be seen. "Damn. Fast for a smarmy loser." Barrett said. "Which way'd he go?"

"I can get no scent." Red said. "This place is too open."

Then what're we gonna do?"

Before anyone could reply, Reno and Rude stepped out of the building behind us. "You're gonna stay outta our way yo." Reno said.

"Not happening." Vincent answered.

"Oh? And what makes you think we'll give you a choice in the matter? Besides, what'dya you care about the Don anyway?"

"I could ask you the same." I said. "I mean, sure, it's your job to catch or kill him. Fair enough. But you seem… personally invested…"

Reno stared at me for several moments before surprising me by admitting "Yeah. I guess you already saw the jerk's got Elena. Not that I care about her or nothin', but she's still a Turk yo. We gotta get her back. And you?"

Cloud shook his head. "Coreno's got Yuffie too. And Yuffie's got all of our materia."

Reno laughed. "Figured as much. So how we gonna handle this?"

Cloud replied "Same as before. We've already agreed to leave each other be for now, right? Let's just keep that up."

"Keep it up with the stipulation that if we find Coreno first, we won't harm Elena, and if you find him first you won't harm Yuffie." Red added.

Nodding, Reno said "Alright. That works. Let's get to it, yo."

"One more thing… Have you any idea where Coreno might have ran to?" Vincent asked.

Reno glanced pointedly in the direction of Da Chao. "Let's just say it's a place that stands out." He and Rude ran quickly towards the mountain.

"Do we follow?" Red asked.

"Do we have a choice?" Cloud answered. "Let's move…"

OOOOOOO

We raced over the winding paths of Da Chao, over and under and through various portions of the massive carvings. Reno and Rude were still somewhere ahead of us, though we had lost track of precisely where they had gone. As we were passing the turbaned head of a statue, we caught the sound of Coreno speaking from somewhere nearby.

"Where…?" Tifa whispered.

"This way." Red answered. He took the lead and led us around the statue's head onto a narrow side path. We passed through a short tunnel which sloped further upwards to a higher level of the mountain. As soon as we emerged from the far end we saw Yuffie and Elena tied to a statue's face and Coreno standing on the statue's hand.

"Now then ladies, who should I choose? Which lucky girl gets to spend the night… and then her life… with me?" Coreno was saying.

"Get this through your thick head!" Elena shouted. "I'm a Turk! There's gonna be hell to pay for you if you don't let me go!"

Yuffie exclaimed "And me too! Don't you know who I am? Shogun Godo is my father!"

"No matter!" Coreno said. "I'm far too wealthy to lose out in the end! Now, as for my choice, I think I'll go with… …the feisty one!" He pointed at Yuffie.

"Oh gawd! No way pervy! No frickin' way! Oh why didn't I pay more attention in escape classes?"

"She's right." Cloud said, stepping forward and announcing his presence. "Let them both go. Now."

Coreno turned, startled. "What? Is there nowhere I can go in peace? Why won't you just leave me alone? First you cost me my home in Midgar and kill my poor little Aps, and now you follow me here!? No more! Meet my new pet! Rapps!" Coreno clapped his hands, and with a rush of air a small dragon flew up from somewhere below, swooped in a half-arc, and hovered between us and the Don. "Rapps!" He pointed at Cloud. "Kill!"

Cloud drew his sword as Rapps attacked. The creature tried to grab the blade right out of Cloud's hands, but he pulled back and swung in an arc that caught the tip of a wing. Angered, Rapps drew back it's head and breathed fire at Cloud, who dodged to the side. Then Red jumped onto the dragon's back and bit into it's neck. Rapps threw him off and surged to attack Cloud once more. It was driven back by gunfire from Barrett and Vincent.

Realizing the direct approach wasn't working, Rapps dived out of sight beyond another portion of the Da Chao statues. Everyone tensed, looking around, wondering where it's next attack would come from. The dragon proved smarter than any of us expected: It had found the narrow tunnel we approached Coreno's position through and used that for a surprise attack, lunging out at full speed, grabbing for Cloud with it's clawed hindlegs. He tried to duck, but was thrown off balance and tottered over the edge.

"Cloud!" Tifa shouted out as he fell, and then Rapps followed after him. For several moments we heard nothing. Then Rapps reappeared, but not in circumstances it would have liked: Cloud was riding on it's back, clinging on as it tried to throw him off.

"I hate dragons." Barrett grumbled. "C'mon Spikey, get offa there! I need a clear shot!"

"You think I'm not trying!?" Cloud yelled back.

"If anyone has a plan, we're all listening!" Aeris shouted.

Vincent holstered his gun and shook his head. "Just one. Everyone stand clear." I took a step back, and then another. As Vincent began to transform, so did everyone else. A howl echoed through the mountains, and where Vincent had stood there was now only a large purple beast, which roared again and jumped at Rapps. Shocked, Cloud let go and fell, almost going over the edge of the path again, though he pulled himself back with help from Barrett.

Rapps and Galian Beast struggled against each other in mid-air. Rapps tried to shake off it's new opponent, but the beast's hold was too strong. Holding on one-handed, Galian began punching Rapps with it's free hand. The dragon fell to the ground, flopped about, and rose into the air, if unsteadily. For once, it was our enemy that tried to run away. Rapps flew off over the top of Da Chao, and Galian Beast gave chase in leaps and bounds.

Silence reigned for a time as everyone processed what they had just seen. Unlike in the game, where a player using Vincent a lot would have used his limit breaks before this point, this was the first the group had seen of this ability. It was Coreno who broke the silence, shouting futilely for Rapps to come back.

When he realized his pet wasn't coming back, Coreno turned to face us. "Oh well, still not a problem!" he exclaimed.

"Hmm…" Barrett said. "All alone and still not scared…"

Coreno laughed. "That's right! And why do you suppose that is?"

"You have another plan?" Tifa asked.

"You do not comprehend the magnitude of your situation?" Red offered.

"You're a flaming idiot?" I threw in.

"Nope! None of the above!" Coreno answered. But then, as he tried to pull a gun, a shuriken flew from somewhere out of sight and struck him on the head. He stumbled backwards, tripped, and went over the edge, barely holding on. Reno appeared from the tunnel, walked slowly over, and stared down at the Don.

"Good shot Rude!" Reno said as his partner appeared from the same direction as the shuriken. "Now then Don, what are we gonna do with you, yo?"

"Let me go?" Coreno asked. "Lock me up? Extort my fortune?"

"Nope. None of the above. What I'm gonna do… Is my job…" Reno lifted a foot and stomped down hard on Coreno's hands. The mobster lost his grip and fell, screaming, to the base of the mountain many thousands of feet below…

OOOOOOO

Half an hour later Yuffie and Elena were freed from their bonds and we and the Turks stood facing each other. "I hate to say it, but we actually worked well together." Cloud said.

"Yeah, well don't get used to it. No ways we're joinin' you." Reno answered.

"I'm just glad to be free." Elena said to Reno. "Thank you for coming after me, I thought I was done for…"

"Stop that! You're a Turk, act like it!" Reno shouted back at her. As he was speaking his phone began to ring. Stepping back, turning away, Reno answered the call. "Yeah? Yeah. Okay, I understand. Yes sir. Thank you sir." He hung up.

"Are we on?" Rude asked.

"Our new assignment is to locate Cloud." Reno answered. Cloud, Tifa, Barrett, and Yuffie fell into combat positions, but Reno stayed silent for a full minute. Then he said "Rude, have you seen Cloud?"

"Not seen Cloud today at all." Rude replied.

Elena started to protest. "What? He's right…"

Before she could finish the sentence, Reno slapped a hand over Elena's mouth and said "Elena, have you seen Cloud?" He then pitched his voice high, similar to Elena's voice, and answered for her "Why no Reno, I've not seen Cloud since Gongaga." He then released Elena who glared at him angrily but said nothing.

"Of course, for all we know, Cloud could be right here in Wutai… Good thing for him if so that it's our day off yo… C'mon Elena, let's get you cleaned up and hit the bars."

With that, the three Turks walked away. As they went, Reno added, loudly enough to be sure we could hear, "Oh course, if I was Cloud, and I was here in Wutai, I'd be getting' out before we're back on the clock come dawn tomorrow…"

Once they were gone, we turned our attention back to Yuffie, who seemed genuinely chastised and apologetic. "So, materia?" She asked.

"You damned right, materia!" Barrett shouted.

"Aye lass." Cait said. "If you think we're mad, you should see Cid… If you've returned it before we see him again, he might let you live."

"Okay then… On my honor as a ninja… No, better, on the honor of Wutai, no more tricks. I'll take you to where I stashed it."

"What'dya think?" Tifa asked.

"If it was just on her own honor, I'd be skeptical." Red answered. "But we all know how much Wutai means to her…"

"I say we give her the chance." I said. "Lead the way Yuffie."

"Okay. It's hidden in the walls of my house. Let's go..."


	27. Waiting for Godo

Standard Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy, Green Lantern, or any of their related characters and concepts. This is a work of fan fiction.

"Courage To Change The Things You Can"

Chapter 27: "Waiting for Godo"

Author's Note One: To those who get this chapter's title, I sincerely apologize. I just couldn't resist.

Author's Note Two: If Yuffie seems a bit out of character, especially near the end of this chapter, please bear in mind that I am intentionally trying to give her just a touch of character development and maturing.

Yuffie was in the lead as we started down the side of Da Chao. This was just fine by the majority of our group, who preferred having her squarely in their sights, just in case. As we went, Tifa said "You know, someone's got to bring this up… What the hell happened with Vincent back there!?"

Yuffie stopped and faced us. "Yeah… He just… changed. I thought he was a vampire, but maybe I got it wrong… Maybe he's some kind of werewolf."

"That's ridiculous." Cloud said. "There's no such thing."

"Hate ta' agree wit Yuffie, but we all saw it happen." Barrett said. "What else could it be?"

"Vincent did say Hojo experimented on him…" I offered.

Red said "I am certain he will return before we leave Wutai… We should ask the man himself rather than speculating wildly."

"Red is right." Aeris said. "Let's just get back to town, get our materia back, and go from there."

"Right." Cloud said. "Lead the way Yuff."

Yuffie started to turn and continue on, but before she took a step there were several small explosions of smoke in a circle surrounding us. As had happened when we first arrived in Wutai, we were faced by the appearance of Godo's elite warriors.

"Princess Yuffie and members of Avalanche:" The leader said, "Lord Godo summons you to the Pagoda of the Five Gods." Another blast of smoke filled the air, and when we were able to see once more we were just outside the door of Yuffie's home, with the Pagoda visible across the central plaza. "Wait here." The lead warrior said. "The Shogun will call for you shortly." The warriors then vanished in puffs of smoke.

"Well…" Aeris said. "As long as we're here, let's get the materia."

"Right." Yuffie said, nodding. She led the way into the house and down a hallway to her bedroom. There she removed a carefully hidden panel and pulled out a large sack, which she threw onto the bed. "It's all in there." She said.

Cloud and Tifa stared warily at the bag. "And, what?" Tifa asked. "When we open it, a flare blinds us and you're off running again?"

"Or maybe there's a big snake inside?" Cloud asked.

Yuffie rolled her eyes and said "Oh c'mon you guys! I'm on the level this time! Honor of Wutai, remember? Look… You saved me from the Lecher King, right? That woulda been fate worse than death right there… No tricks." She opened the sack herself and spilled out the materia.

"Well I'll be damned." Barrett said.

"It seems you didn't bother to keep it in order…" Red said, shaking his head. "Still, at least we have it back."

"You've got me back too." Yuffie said.

"Oh, I don't know…" Tifa started to say, but as she was speaking the door swung open behind us. Cid walked in, followed by Vincent.

"Cid!? When did you get to town?" I asked.

"Just now. Fixed the Bronco up, headed this way. Found 'ol Vinny here wondering around, then these damned Samurai guys popped up outta no damned where and dropped us here." Cid answered. He stared at Yuffie but, surprisingly, said nothing more.

What mattered though, is that almost everyone in the room was staring at Vincent. "I suppose you intend to infringe on my privacy by asking questions?" He said.

"Apologies." Red said, "But under the circumstances I must insist we have a right to know the nature of what we witnessed."

Vincent nodded slowly. "I cannot explain in detail. The science, if that's what it was, is beyond me. But during his time experimenting on me Hojo somehow infused the essence of four monsters within my body… Under duress, I can temporarily free them."

"That sounds dangerous Laddie." Cait said.

"Thus far, I retain sufficient control to direct their attentions solely onto enemies as opposed to allies… That said I share your concern. There is no guarantee that this control will last, which is why I try to avoid it whenever possible."

OOOOOOO

After this, everyone was quiet for a time as we divided up the materia appropriately and returned it to it's slots in weapons and armor. Yuffie produced food from her kitchen, though given how long she had been away from home the bulk of it was too hard and stale to eat. At the least, Cid got a cup of tea out of the deal which mellowed him out considerably.

After perhaps an hour, we all felt a sudden rush of wind and heard the voice of Godo's head guardian saying "The Shogun will see you now." Everything blurred for a moment, and when my vision cleared we were standing outside, directly in front of the Pagoda, with Godo facing us.

"Someone explain to me how they lost the war when they can do stuff like that?" I murmured.

"Good question." Cid agreed.

"Daughter, Members of Avalanche, hear my words:" Godo began, "First, to you of Avalanche I apologize once more for my daughter's unseemly behavior." Yuffie started to respond, but was cut off by Vincent putting a hand over her mouth. Godo continued "I gave you leave to settle your dispute with Yuffie by any means. And yet, I find that you have not harmed her; Indeed, I have report that you may even have saved both her life and her purity."

Half of our group choked at the word purity, it didn't really fit Yuffie even though we knew what Godo really meant by it. Still, Cloud said "We only did what seemed right."

"And you have the gratitude of Wutai for this." Godo answered. He looked at Yuffie. "As for you my daughter, what am I to do with you? Your intentions are noble. Whatever you may believe, I have never doubted that, at least. Yet your methods are undisciplined, sloppy, and disgraceful. In your attempts to bring glory to Wutai, you bring shame instead."

"Father… If I shame Wutai, I apologize. But I must act. I cannot sit idly by and leave things as they are!"

"Then what are we to do?"

Yuffie turned away, clenched her fists. She seemed torn, more than I would have expected her to be capable of. She turned back to Godo and said "Alright Father. Here is what I have to say: I will submit to whatever punishment you have in mind for me. But not just yet. There's a bigger danger right now, the whole planet could die… Let me go with Avalanche to stop it. Then I will return."

Godo seemed as surprised as anyone to hear such mature words from Yuffie. He said "So shall it be. On the condition that before you go, you climb the Pagoda."

Eyes wide, Yuffie asked "All the way? The fifth floor?"

Godo nodded curtly. "Yes. It will not take long, you will still be able to depart before sunset." He looked to Cloud and asked "Can your quest afford the small delay?"

"I guess so." Cloud answered, rubbing the back of his head. "As long as we leave today."

"Very good. Daughter, enter the Pagoda in ten minute's time. Your first opponent will be waiting." Godo bowed and walked into the tower.

"So what's the deal Lass?" Cait asked Yuffie. "It doesn't seem like climbing a five story tower would be that hard, but ye acted like it was a rather big deal."

Seated on the ground, fiddling with her materia and examining her weapons, Yuffie explained "It's not just a climb up the stairs Cait. When we say 'Climb the Pagoda' what we mean is combat trials. I'll start on the first floor and work my way up. Each floor has one master I'll have to beat in one on one combat, and the higher the floor number the stronger the master."

"Sounds rough." Aeris said. "Are you up for it?"

"You heard my father. I don't have a choice. Besides, it's really only the very top floor that worries me… Pop's getting up in years, but he's still no slouch."

At this, everyone turned to stare at her. "Wait… You'll have to fight your own father?" Cloud asked.

"Yeah…" Yuffie confirmed. "Hey… Would you guys mind coming along? You can't help, but I'd like some witnesses."

"I've got nothin' better to do." I said, and Aeris and Red agreed. Barrett and Cid however seemed still upset by the theft incident and refused. Cloud and Tifa agreed to come with, and Cait and Vincent went with Cid back to the Bronco.

We waited a few more minutes as Yuffie finished checking and adjusting her gear. Then she rose and started towards the Pagoda. "Let's get this over with…" She said

The inside of the Pagoda was elaborately decorated, with thick hand-crafted rugs, and wooden carving so highly polished they seemed to glow in the candlelight. We stood to the side of the arena while Yuffie entered and spoke briefly with her first opponent. They then bowed to each other and took starting positions on either side of the chamber. Yuffie glanced back over her shoulder long enough to wink and say "Wish me luck."

OOOOOOO

As it turned out, Yuffie's prediction was correct. The first four opponents barely even challenged her. She defeated each with ease, though as we got closer to the fifth floor and Godo her bravado was beginning to evaporate. By the time we were gathered at the base of the final flight of stairs, she was looking for excuses to not go on. "What'dya say we just go?" She asked staring up the dark staircase. "I bet Ol' Godo won't even miss me. Besides, you heard Reno. We don't have time for this! We've gotta be out of town before sunrise!"

"Yuffie, the sun hasn't even set yet." I said.

"Well… no… But you'd be surprised how quick it can happen around here."

"Yuffie…" Cloud said.

"Besides, it's my dad! I don't wanna hurt my dad!"

"Yuffie…" Tifa said.

"I mean, he was already old when mom had me! He's gotta be like, a hundred by now, and…"

"YUFFIE!" Everyone shouted.

Yuffie sighed. "He's gonna cream me." She admitted.

Aeris put a hand on Yuffie's shoulder. "Just do your best. I think you can do this, and if not, well, at least you'll know you tried."

"I guess so." Yuffie said, though she didn't seem at all convinced. She climbed the stairs slowly and we followed close behind.

OOOOOOO

Two minutes later, Yuffie stood facing her father. "You are nervous." Godo observed. Yuffie started to angrily deny such, but Godo raised his hands and when Yuffie stopped talking he said "You misunderstand daughter. I do not consider this anxiety an insult. Quite to the opposite, the fact that you are anxious shows that you are aware of my greater power and skill, while the fact that you came anyway shows fortitude and courage. All are admirable traits."

"Oh." Was all Yuffie could say, and I suspected she had never been complimented by Godo in such a straightforward way before.

"You have much to accomplish in the coming days and weeks. Therefore, let us begin, so that you may continue in your quest."

"You say that as if you expect me to win." Yuffie replied.

Godo chuckled. "Not at all. I never said you had to win to go with your companions. Simply that you had to challenge me first to obtain my blessings."

Yuffie smiled. Reached behind her back and pulled a trio of Kunai blades. "Then let's do this." She said.

The ensuing battle was so rapid that I cannot describe it in full detail. Both Godo and Yuffie moved faster than the eye could follow, countering each other's attacks, attemping to misdirect each other's attention, failing at such more often than not. For nearly an hour father and daughter fought each other. As the room filled with haze from the smoke bombs they used as distractions and the very tower began to shudder from the impact of some of Godo's blows, I repeated my earlier sentiment "Again," I asked, "Someone please tell me how these guys lost the war?"

"I'm wondering the same thing myself." Cloud agreed.

Aeris looked worried "I'm wondering if we've made a mistake. I wouldn't have encouraged her if I'd known he was going to fight this rough."

"Have courage." Red said.

Not long afterwards, there was a tremendous blast that once again rocked the tower. The haze cleared, and in the midst of the arena stood Yuffie, battered, weary, and standing over Godo who was on his back.

"Most impressive daughter." He said, nodding. "But how did you…?"

"How many times do I have to say it?" Yuffie said, breathing hard between each word. "World's. Greatest. Ninja."

Godo surprised us all by breaking into open laughter. He reached out a hand and Yuffie helped him to his feet. "Flippant as always. Go, daughter. My blessings are upon you." He reached into a pocket and produced a red materia crystal, thrust it into Yuffie's hands.

"This… Father! This is Leviathan!"

"It is indeed. The rightful treasure of Wutai, which according to tradition should remain in the possession on the Shogun. I think, though, that it will do more good in the hands of one who will actually use it. And besides that, it will still be in the possession of the future Shogun, the Empress-to-be, so it is at worst a technical violation."

Yuffie jumped forward and embraced Godo tightly. "Thank you father. I won't disappoint you, or Wutai…"


	28. Dinner With Dio

Standard Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy, Green Lantern, or any of their related characters and concepts. This is a work of fan fiction.

"Courage To Change The Things You Can"

Chapter 28: "Dinner With Dio"

After leaving Wutai, Cid set a course generally towards the south and east bearing for the area of Rocket Town. While the captain stayed in the cockpit the rest of us gathered in the passenger compartment. "So, does anyone have the slightest idea where to start looking for this Keystone thing?" Cloud asked.

"It could be anywhere, couldn't it?" Tifa asked.

Red nodded. "Indeed. After all, the temple itself must have been sealed for at least hundreds, if not thousands, of years. And the Cetra were spread across the entire face of Gaia." He looked to Aeris. "Have you any ideas?"

"I'm thinking." She replied. "Give me a few minutes."

From the cockpit, Cid called back "I'm headin' south. If nothin' else we'll find the damned temple and search the area around it."

"That's good." Red agreed.

"How should we play this?" Aeris thought to me.

"I'm not sure… Someone's bound to come up with the answer on their own. Still, maybe I can give things a little bump."

"Bump? How?"

"Like this." I answered, then I said aloud "Hey Cait?"

"Yeah laddie?"

"I was wondering… Seeing as you are a machine after all, do you have any connections with computer databases?"

"I can access Shinranet remotely." The robot replied. "Why? Is there something you'd like me to research for you?"

"Search archeology sites for 'Temple keystone.'" I answered. "See if you can maybe find a visual image of what the thing looks like, or any data on where it's at if it's already been found, that kind of thing."

"Alright. Searching now, gimme maybe five minutes."

"Good thinking." Red said. "Although if it has been found it is most likely in a Shinra lab somewhere."

"Think positive." Aeris answered.

We waited then for Cait's results, which came a little quicker than he had anticipated. "Whoo! Got somethin' Laddie!" he exclaimed.

"Well what are you waiting for!?" Yuffie demanded. "Spill it!"

"Hold yer Choco's lass. I'm bein' dramatic here! Anyhow, the good news is the keystone's not just laying out in the wilds somewhere. It has been found, over a century ago. The bad news is that no one knows where it is today."

"How's that possible?" Barrett wondered.

Cait explained "According to the records, the man who found the keystone sold it for a princely sum of gil to a family of Aristocrats from Banora. They owned it for fifty-odd years until it was stolen by a gang of thieves. The thieves then tried to sell it on auction in Kalm, but were found out and ran. When they were finally caught months later, they didn't have it on them and refused to divulge it's location. Ever. They took the secret of where they hid it to their graves."

"That's not really bad news though." Cloud said. "At least Shinra doesn't have it either."

"This is true." Vincent agreed. "Perhaps if the keystone remains unfound the temple will be inaccessible forever."

"Maybe Lad." Cait said. "But, I do have one other piece of data for you all; What the thing looks like." The Moogles eyes lit up and projected a highly detailed sketch of the keystone onto the Bronco's interior walls. The object in the image was rectangular, with a trio of notches set in it's base and a pair of holes near the mid-point.

As we examined it, Cid came rushing back from the cockpit staring at the sketch. "Son of a…!" He exclaimed. "That's what we're looking for!?"

"Indeed it is lad." Cait answered.

Yuffie asked "Why you so excited? You act like you've seen it or something."

"I have."

"What!?" "Seriously!?" "When!?" "Where!?" Everyone was shouting at once.

Cid began to explain. "You all know about the Gongaga reactor explosion, right?"

"Yeah. We were actually in Gongaga not long ago." I answered.

"Good. Well, the thing is that back when the damned thing blew I was still on Shinra's payroll as a pilot. I got assigned to fly in the accident investigators. Of course, we couldn't land in the town or at the reactor itself. Too much frickin' mako radiation. I had to land in a field a few miles to the north, then wait until the investigation was over."

"Sounds boring." Yuffie said.

"Hold up squirt, that's where I'm going with this." Cid said. "It was boring alright… Boring as all hell. So after a few days I went out exploring ta kill the time. That's when I found the shop… See, there was this guy, a weapons merchant. Weirdest guy I'd ever met, at least until I ran afoul o' the lot of you… Had his shop out in the middle of nowhere. Anyways, he had this thing in the shop, under glass in a trophy case."

"You are certain?" Vincent asked.

"Totally. That's it alright."

"Strange that there's no record of him owning it." Tifa said.

"Well, I don't think he knew what it was." Cid answered. "Anyway I guess we should go there right?"

"Absolutely." Cloud replied.

"Speaking of going there…" I said, "We're still underway."

"So?" Cid asked.

I answered "So if you're back here, who's in the pilot's seat?"

Cid's eyes opened wide as he swore and rushed back to the cockpit…

OOOOOOO

We arrived at Gongaga a few days later and hiked north to the shop. It was a well-maintained structure, with prominent signs on the roof and loudspeakers announcing the latest deals on new weapons and ammunition. "Nice shop," Barrett said, "But what's it doin' way in da hell out here? The guy can't get much business… This is the ass-end o' nowhere."

"Told you he was frickin' weird." Cid answered.

"Let's just talk to the man and hope he's willing to part with it." Cloud said.

A bell dinged as we entered the shop. From the back came a voice saying "Welcome! I'll be with you in just a moment, feel free to look around!" We did so briefly, and were surprised by the extent and quality of the shop's goods. More surprising though, was the fact that the isolated shop really was getting business. A dozen other customers were browsing the aisles. Cid led the way to the trophy case which was in an alcove at the back. But when we got there…

"It's gone!" Cid exclaimed staring at the empty case.

"A valid, if simple, observation." Red answered dryly.

The shopkeeper came around the corner a moment later and smiled when he saw Cid. "Captain Highwind! What a surprise, welcome back!"

"You remember me?" Cid asked.

"Oh sure, I make it a point to remember all of my guests. What can I do for you?"

"Well… We was wonderin' about the stone thing you had in this case…"

"Oh dear… I'm sorry Captain. I'm afraid you missed it by a couple of weeks. Honestly I hadn't planned on selling it at all, but a buyer came in that I couldn't say no to. Literally, I was terrified of him, not a man you refuse."

"Do you know who this man was?" Vincent asked.

"Yes, of course… Everyone knows who this man is. He…" The shopkeeper paused, glanced around nervously, then whispered "Dio."

"Dio!? The damned Gold-Saucer guy!?" Barrett shouted loudly.

"Keep your voice down!" The man exclaimed. "Yes, that's the guy."

"Sounds like we're headin' back to the saucer." Cloud said. "Let's move…"

OOOOOOO

Soon after, we were riding the gondola from North Corel to the Amusement park. "I just hope we can even get to this Dio." Cid said.

Tifa explained "We have an opening, maybe. Cloud had to compete in a Chocobo race last time we were here. We're gonna talk to Esther, the jockey agent, see if she can help us."

I stood with Aeris, looking out over the desert far below. "It's really kind of beautiful from up here." She said. "Not at all what it's like when you're actually down there in it."

"Yeah." I agreed. "Though, I suppose even in close up there's a beauty in it to creatures who can survive there."

Smiling, Aeris replied "True… And I expect my impressions are kind of skewed from experiencing it in the middle of a prison…" We both laughed.

As the gondola pulled into the upper station it's motor began to smoke and spark. The operator rushed us out into the lobby, then ran back in with a fire extinguisher. He emerged a few minutes later. "Sorry about that folks. Looks like the gondola's down for awhile."

"How long is 'awhile?'" Tifa asked.

"A couple days, three maybe."

"Suspicious." Vincent whispered.

"Nothing to do about it." I said. "Let's find Esther."

We entered the inner lobby and took the tube car down to the Chocobo square, and from there to the Jockey's locker room. Esther was already there when we arrived, and she greeted Cloud warmly. "Back for more racing?" she asked.

"Not exactly. I need to ask you a huge favor. We need to speak with Mr. Dio."

"Oh! Well… You understand that not just anyone can even ask for such a thing. I suppose maybe you aren't just anyone though are you? No promises, but I'll see what I can do." Esther stepped out, asking us to wait for her…

OOOOOOO

An hour later manservants led us into an elevator which ascended all the way to the very pinnacle of the saucer's central tower. Here we found Dio's penthouse apartment, lavishly furnished in exotic antiques and expensive artwork.

"Holy crud…" Yuffie whispered, and it occurred to me that you know things are over-the-top when they put awe into a princess.

We followed out guides into the main dining hall. The huge table could have seated fifty, and one entire wall of the room was a single frameless window looking out over the desert. Food was piled high, and Dio was waiting for us, seated at the head of the table. "Welcome to my home." He said. "Esther tells me you have something to discuss. Please, join me, we can talk business over lunch."

Everyone was soon seated. (Even Red managed to sit in the wide, heavily padded seats, and Cait left his moogle in a corner and also took a chair.) Vincent asked "I'm curious sir. What has gone wrong with the gondola?"

"Ahh, that's right. You all would've been in that car wouldn't you? Well, I've not gotten a certain answer back yet. My technicians are starting to suspect someone was tampering with things though. Not that I believe it, there's no reason for such an act."

"Perhaps." Vincent said.

"No matter, it can be fixed. That's what matters." Dio added.

Red asked "I'm surprised that you are not more concerned. After all, the gondola is the only way for paying customers to get in. Won't this harm your profits?"

"Not so much. After all, the only way in is also the only way out!" Dio laughed, popped another forkful of food into his mouth. After swallowing he continued "If it had happened when we were low on guests, or if it was going to last a week or more, then I'd worry… But enough of that! Tell me, why did you wish to speak with me?"

"Well sir…" Cloud started to say, but stopped short. I understood his caution. Though not really a bad guy, Dio was undeniably odd, and had to be dealt with carefully. Any request would need to be worded cautiously.

It was Aeris who spoke next. "Sir," she began, "We just left the weapon shop north of Gongaga. We were told that you purchased an ancient Cetra relic. Is that true?"

"Oh, indeed it is! A wonderful acquisition! It's on display in the Battle Square Museum now. Why are you asking?"

"Careful…" I thought to her. "Rufus may already have contacted him."

"Might as well be as honest as possible." She replied. To Dio Aeris said "We think the relic is a keystone that will open up a Cetra temple that's been sealed for centuries. There's something very important inside that temple that we need to acquire…"

"What would it take for you to lend us the keystone?" Vincent said.

"We will return it, of course." Red added.

Dio leaned back in his seat. "Hmmm…." He mused. "Well, I do think that I could trust you. I've little doubt that you really would return the relic unharmed… And frankly I kind of like the idea of my property aiding in opening up a long-forgotten ruin, if only for the possibility of finding some kind of priceless treasures inside…"

"Any treasure we find, aside from the one thing we're after or something dangerous, is yours if you help us." Aeris said.

Dio smiled. "Thank you young lady. That certainly sweetens the pot…"

"Then you'll help us? You'll let us borrow the Keystone?" Cloud asked.

"Well, I'd like to. But there's another issue."

"What? You still don't trust us!?" Barrett asked. "Look, why don't you jus' come wit us? That way you'd know your stuff was safe."

"That too is tempting." Dio answered. "But my place is here with my park. No, my issue isn't that. It's more of a style thing."

"A 'style thing'? Yuffie asked.

"Oh I get it." I said. "It's like the chocobo race to get out of prison thing. We'll have to do something entertaining in order to get the Keystone, right?"

"Precisely." Dio replied. He held up his hands. "No worries now, it's not another race, and as before I'm happy to settle for just one of you handing the challenge for the whole group."

"And what is the challenge?" Tifa asked skeptically.

"Battle Square!" Dio announced happily. "I'll arrange the best competitors just for you! And, to show I'm a fair man you don't even have to win, just compete."

"I guess there's no choice." Cloud said nodding. "When do we do it?"

"I'll need a bit to arrange things. Be at the arena at seven this evening."

"I'll be there." Cloud answered…


	29. The Book of Counted Joys

Standard Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy, Green Lantern, or any of their related characters and concepts. This is a work of fan fiction.

"Courage To Change The Things You Can"

Chapter 29: "The Book of Counted Joys"

Author's Note: Just in time for the holidays, check out my fractured Christmas song "Fros-T the Kill-Bot," available on the Frosty the Snowman page!

A few hours after our meeting with Dio we were all gathered just outside the entrance to the Battle Arena. Cloud was fussing with his equipment while everyone else offered suggestions. Red produced the Yoshiyuki Sword from, well, wherever the hell he kept things and said "A perfect time for this, I think."

Nodding, Cloud agreed. "Good. Yeah, if it really gets stronger when you're fighting alone it'll work out well."

"What about your materia?" Yuffie asked. "You need balance, survivability. Hey, try this!" She removed an enemy skills materia from her armor and tossed it to him.

Everyone stared. "Yuffie… Giving someone materia…?" Cait said.

"Damn." Barrett agreed. "Never thought I'd see the day."

"Hey!" Yuffie exclaimed.

Holding the materia, Cloud said "Wow… You've gotten a lot of spells imprinted on here."

"Yeah! I even got some spells from the Wutai area… Magic Hammer might be useful."

"Thanks… Now let's see, what else could I add in?" Cloud mused.

"Why you worryin' so much?" Cid asked. "I mean you heard Dio… You don't really have to win, just give it a shot…"

"It is a matter of honor." Vincent said. "It would not be just to throw the match simply to get things out of the way sooner."

I added "And remember this is Dio… I'm sure he meant what he said but I also expect he'd know if Cloud wasn't really trying and maybe back out then."

"Plausible." Vincent agreed.

As Cloud finished his preparations, Dio entered the room and approached us. Clapping Cloud hard on the back he asked "Well my boy, are you ready!?"

"Think so." Cloud answered.

"Good, good… Now, I've selected your opponents by hand, but otherwise this is an ordinary Battle Square challenge following all the usual rules. So, let's get started." He turned to the rest of us and said "My personal viewing box is upstairs, I've told the guard to let you use it." Dio then led Cloud into the arena while we made our way to watch…

OOOOOOO

In Dio's box, we looked down onto the Battle Arena. Cloud was standing ready, and Dio's voice boomed over the loudspeakers. "Ladies and gentlemen! We begin our night's activities with a very special guest! A personal friend of mine who will engage in a gauntlet of opponents sure to test even his extraordinary skills! Let us begin!"

Across from Cloud a door opened and out raced his first set of enemies: A trio of Zemzelets. The ugly green birds rushed forward, wings flapping, and Cloud struck. He downed the first with ease, then ducked behind to handle the second. The third turned but wasn't fast enough and also went down.

"Excellent start lad!" Dio said. "But now let's up the ante shall we?" The slots spun and landed on 'Speed Break.' "Oh, too bad my boy! One 'Slow' spell coming up!" The spell took hold as Cloud faced the next enemy: A Nibel Mountain Green Dragon.

"Seriously?" Tifa exclaimed. "A dragon solo?" Cloud dodged a blast of fire-breath and struck, but the dragon's second attack was too quick for him in his slowed condition. He was thrown backwards. Regaining his footing, Cloud used the enemy skills materia Yuffie had given him to cast White Wind. The spell healed his wounds and removed the slow effect. The dragon struck again, but now that he could move normally Cloud was ready, and dispatched the creature with a hit from Deathblow.

The third round saw Cloud get lucky with the slots, which landed on 'No Penalty.' The enemies were two Bull Motors and an Adamantoise. Up fourth came a group of three bombs. The slots really stuck it to Cloud on that round, landing on 'Armor Break.' By the time the fourth round was finished, Cloud wasn't looking too good. All three bombs had detonated before he could kill them. And then the fifth round slots gave him 'Green Materia Disabled' against a group of four Judge creatures and four Muus. White Wind came to the rescue once more, but that round was longer than the ones before. "And he's still got three more rounds." Cait said. "I dinna think he's gonna win lads and lasses…"

"Don't give up on him yet." I replied.

"Right." Tifa said. She leaned over the railing and shouted "You can do it Cloud!"

Round six started out decently. The slots were merciful, landing on 'Full Recovery.' Then the large door opened and we saw what Cloud was going to have to fight: A Tonberry. "Really!?" I exclaimed. "Where the hell did Dio get one of those!?" Cloud leapt in and attacked his diminutive but lethal opponent with everything he had. The stoic lizard simply crept forward a little at a time, pushing Cloud back to the wall on his side of the arena. Then it drew it's knife, but somehow missed, buying Cloud a few moments' grace.

"C'mon Spikey!" Barrett shouted. "Dis ain't no time ta' hold back! Give it all you got!" Cloud nodded and attacked the Tonberry with Climhazzard. It tottered, tried to stab him again, then fell over dead.

"Incredible!" Dio announced. "Two more rounds to go!"

As the slots spun around, Vincent said "This is troubling. If a Tonberry only rated round six, what is going to be in rounds seven and eight?"

"We about ta find out." Barrett said. "Look!"

The slots settled into place. Round seven's result: 'Weapon Break.' From the far doors slithered Cloud's new enemies: Two Sea Worms. Cloud stepped back once, twice, as the giant worms approached him. With both his weapon and armor disabled and no magic save for enemy skills, he was in a bad position no matter how you looked at it, and I began to seriously wonder if Dio wasn't actually trying to kill him. As we watched, Cloud made his move. He darted forward, in-between the worms, which turned to attack him and ended up facing each other, still spitting venom but now striking each other instead of Cloud. After that, Cloud did what he could, inflicting minor hits and avoiding attacks but not seeming to get anywhere. Then, all of a sudden, both worms keeled over dead though Cloud hadn't hit them nearly enough.

"What the hell!?" Cid wondered.

Red, as usual in such cases, provided the answer. "Brilliant. When Cloud ran between them they poisoned each other with their venomous attacks. All he had to do then was wait."

"Damn! Keep it up Spiky, one more ta' go!" Barrett shouted, and everyone else added encouragements as well.

The slots spun for the last time. And the results were as bad as bad can get: 'All Materia Broken.' Dio's voice returned over the loudspeaker. "What a battle! What excitement! And just one more opponent stands between Cloud Strife and the win! So let's not delay any longer!" The largest door of all rose open, and from beyond came a deep roar. Dio continued "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome our reigning Battle Square champion… Kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing Beheeeeemoth!"

"WHAT!?" Tifa shouted. "Oh, no way… No stinking way!"

Into the arena strode the largest creature I've ever seen. Heavy, muscular legs, claws the size of small cars, horns ten feet long, a predator to end all predators, King Behemoth roared again and leapt right for Cloud. I was no longer wondering about Dio. No two ways about it, this was an assassination attempt.

Cloud dodged once, twice, three times as the mighty creature zeroed in and did everything in it's power to squash him. The behemoth's fourth strike didn't miss. Cloud was throw hard into the opposite wall. It was fortunate that the slots hadn't hit 'Item Break.' He used a Elixer, then rushed in and slipped directly under the creature's belly and out between it's rear legs. Jumping high, he managed to grab the tip of it's tail and pulled up onto the monster's back. Then, holding on tightly as the Behemoth bucked about hard trying to throw him off, Cloud began to climb towards the head.

"What's he doing?" Aeris wondered.

"Going for the weakest link." Vincent answered. "You'll recall Cloud didn't use any limit attacks in the Worm fight, even though it lasted long enough he must have one ready…"

Continuing to climb, Cloud passed the shoulders, then the neck. When he reached the head, he surprised me by jumping again and grabbing ahold of the monster's left horn. Dangling from there, He launched another Climhazzard attack, aiming it directly into the behemoth's ear and straight into the brain. With a terrible shriek the beast fell dead…

Soon after, Dio joined us in his box, saying "Well, congratulations. You've earned it in spades. The keystone is yours to borrow, though I insist it stay in the Museum until the gondola is repaired."

Tifa started to go off on the man for the severity of the challenges he had arranged, but Aeris and Barrett held her back. "We've got what we came for." Barrett talked her down. "We'll deal with him some other time…"

OOOOOOO

Later that night I was lying back on the bed in my room at the Ghost Inn. I flipped through the Saucer's offering of television channels, depressed to find that Gaia's television was just as lame as my own world's. (Among other offerings I found such shows as 'Grand Theft Chocobo,' 'Who Wants to be a Gillionaire,' and 'The Bionic Cactuar.' At least the commercials for Turtle's Paradise were awesomely funny.) With a sigh, I switched off the set and was ready to just sleep when I heard something out in the hallway. I crept to the door and slipped it open just enough to peek out and see Tifa pushing Cloud out the door of his room and down the hall towards the elevators. Chuckling to myself, I closed the door back but didn't make it halfway back to the bed before a knock sounded behind me.

Aeris stood outside the door when I answered. "Busy?" she asked.

"Not so much… What's up?"

"What do you think?" She asked with a grin. "Cloud and Tifa are out there somewhere enjoying themselves right? I see no reason why we shouldn't do the same."

"Maybe… Honestly I was almost gonna go to bed, but I suppose I should be standing guard over the keystone. This is our last chance to prevent the temple from getting opened up after all."

"There's no rush on that though." Aeris insisted. She stepped in and closed the door behind her. "I've been thinking about it," She said, "and I don't think we've got to worry about the keystone tonight."

"But, Cloud and Teef just went off on their date." I argued, "They're supposed to catch him in the act during the date…"

"But didn't you also say that Cait steals it just before the gondola is reopened? Because you heard Dio, it'll be another two days before the repairs are finished."

"Maybe…"

"More deep thinking." Aeris teased. "Let it go for one night. Have some fun."

"I guess you're right." I said. "Let's check out the play. If we time our arrival right we'll be able to watch Cloud screw the whole thing up."

Aeris laughed and said "That's the spirit!" We headed out into the brightly-lit Gold Saucer night…

OOOOOOO

We made our way to the Event Square, where we were greeted by a pair of actors. "Welcome!" They said in unison. "Would you like to watch tonight's production? It's extra special!"

"Extra special how?" I asked, knowing the answer.

"It's couple's night at the square! That means our first arrivals get to participate in the play! Of course, you two are a bit late for that; another couple's already here. But something tells us it'll be fun to watch all the same!"

"You have no idea…" I thought. We entered the auditorium and sat near the front. I noted in passing that Red was also present about halfway across the room and remembered his desire, on our first visit, to see a play. I hoped he wouldn't be too disappointed with the results…

As we took our seats the show started. The curtain rose on Cloud, standing mid-stage, utterly lost as to what he was supposed to do. Actors motioned to him, tried to help him along, but he wasn't really getting it at all. The audience began to laugh as a stagehand rushed out and pushed Cloud to the 'king.' "Oh wonderful! The great hero has arrived!"

"Where?" Cloud asked, looking over his shoulder. Everyone laughed even louder.

Rubbing the back of his neck, Cloud shrugged and looked ready to walk off the stage. Then the dragon-suit actor appeared with Tifa. "Help!" She called out. "How's that? Was that good? Okay, Help! Save me!"

"Oh great hero, who will you save?" asked the king.

"I dunno… The dragon I guess?"

"WHAT!?" Everyone onstage exclaimed.

"Well, Teef can handle herself, but it's gotta be like, a million degrees inside that suit…" Cloud replied. The audience roared with laughter. I glanced over towards Red who was shaking his head sadly.

"I'll show you who can take care of herself!" Tifa exclaimed. She shoved the dragon offstage then chased after Cloud who ran off as she approached…

OOOOOOO

We headed for the Chocobo Square next and watched a pair of races, then passed through Battle Square long enough to look around Dio's museum. The Keystone was securely in it's place and there was no sign of anything amiss. We decided to pass on Speed Square (roller coasters aren't my thing) and so made our next stop Wonder Square.

As we looked around at all the games, a familiar voice drew my attention. "Did you hear that?" I asked.

"Yeah, it's coming from over here." Aeris answered.

We rounded the nearest corner and found Yuffie, cursing at the 3-D Battler game. "Something wrong?" I asked.

"Oh, heya. It's this dumb game. The thing is cheating, I swear it!"

"It's just a game Yuff." Aeris said.

"Yeah, I know… But have you seen some of the materia you can buy with GP? It's awesome! And I need like three thousand to buy them, but this cheap butt cheating game won't let me win!"

Glancing over to Aeris, I said "You're hearing this right? She's trying to earn the materia instead of stealing it. Whatever happened to the Yuffie we know?"

As Aeris struggled to not laugh, Yuffie exclaimed "Now hey! I'll have you know I'm totally able to be mature and play fair when I want to!" In answer, neither of us spoke, just stared at her until she said "Well okay… The truth is I don't have a choice… The prize vault is so secure even I can't break into it…"

"Thought as much." Aeris said.

"Look Yuff, if you wanna earn GP, you're gonna hafta find a better game than this." I said. "See, I've heard about this game and you're right… It cheats."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Underneath the façade it's just rock/paper/scissors, except that the machine usually waits until after you push your button to make it's choice."

"Why I oughta…." Yuffie began to grumble.

"Look, you want GP? Come with me." I led Yuffie across the room to the Super-Shot game. "One GP per shot you make, double or nothing every tenth shot. Of course you've got to make a lot of shots in a row to get anywhere, but with those Ninja reflexes you should be up to it."

"Sweet!" Yuffie exclaimed. She began to play as Aeris and I continued on our way.

"I thought you were gonna tell her about the guy you said just sells the stuff out by the gondola." She thought.

"Tell Yuffie about him!?" I replied. "Oh no… There's only two ways that'd end… Either our gil accounts would be totally emptied out into useless GP or else we'd all be in jail again for her robbing the guy…"

"Sad but true…" Aeris agreed.

OOOOOOO

We remained at Wonder Square for perhaps a half hour. As we left I saw that a crowd had gathered around Yuffie who was up to three hundred baskets in a row. "Quite a following." I said as Yuffie waved to us then returned to the game.

"Yeah, she's gonna be even more insufferable with a fan club." Aeris agreed. "So, where to next?"

"There's a nice restaurant just off the main hub." I said. "Open roofed. We could have a nice romantic dinner under the fireworks."

"That sounds nice. Let's do it!"

A little later we were seated across from each other at a small corner table covered in a gold-filigree tablecloth with a pair of candles faintly glowing. Overhead, the fireworks began to erupt filling the night with light and sound. "This was a wonderful idea." Aeris said, smiling.

"I'm glad… We've never really had a chance to just relax like this."

"Says the guy who's not really relaxing." Aeris answered. "Admit it, even now you're thinking, trying to figure a way out of our situation."

"I'm sorry… I'm just not the type who can turn off his mind."

Aeris reached across the table, took my left hand. "It's okay… I know you can't help it, and I also know that you have at least pushed things to the back of your mind. Most of your attention really is here with me."

"Always." I said. I glanced down at the menu in front of me and read for a moment. "Is it bad that I don't even know what most of these dishes are?" I asked.

"If it is then I'm guilty too… 'Chateaubriand?' What in the world is that?"

"I have no idea… Maybe we should play it safe."

"Nah," Aeris said. "Let's live a little."

"Fair enough." I flagged over our waiter and ordered "The most impossible to pronounce dish you've got."

OOOOOOO

Sometime later, don't ask for specifics, I'm not sure, we were walking hand in hand. After dinner we had rode the trolley and were now heading towards the tube car station at the Saucer's main entrance. "This has been a wonderful night." Aeris said.

"Yeah. My only regret is that it's over so quickly."

"Well, it doesn't have to be quite over..." Aeris said. "There's still one place we've not been to yet."

"Oh?" I asked. I racked my mind for what we could have missed, but nothing came to mind. "What am I forgetting?" I asked.

Aeris stopped in front of a bench and we sat down. She explained "Well… Did you know that the hotel isn't the only thing in Ghost Square?"

"No I didn't. In the game, all you could see from the camera-view was the hotel itself."

"Ahh… Well, last time we were here I went out looking around before I went to bed. Back behind the hotel are two other attractions. The first is a 'haunted' hedge-maze that looked like it might be kind of fun, though that's not really what I've got in mind."

"Okay, I'll bite. What's the second?"

It was then that Aeris spoke two words, just two little words, that would change the rest of my life. "A chapel." She whispered.

"Oh."

"Hee hee… 'Oh' is all you can say?"

"I wasn't expecting…"

Aeris continued to sit next to me, holding both of my hands in hers. "I know. But it's still a good idea. Especially since this might be our last chance for a long time and I know I'm ready. The question is, are you?"

"I think I am. Though, we don't really have rings or anything…"

"Not a problem." Aeris answered. They've got them there. Basic ones of course, nothing too fancy, but since when has fancy mattered to either of us?"

"Then what are we sitting here waiting for?" I asked.

"I have no idea. Let's go…"

The Ghost Square chapel was small but ornate, beautifully decorated inside and out. The exterior decorations kept with the haunted house theme of the rest of the square, but the interior was traditional and clean. We paid the fees, and selected our rings. For Aeris I chose a gold ring with an inlay of small emeralds which matched her eyes. She gave me a heavy gold band with silver inlays in the shape of meshed gears all the way around.

Unfortunately, the chapel did not offer wedding clothing, though Aeris took the time to unbraid her hair and one of the employees produced a flower which she wore over her left ear. We had no witnesses, but in a world that didn't even require us to fill out forms that hardly mattered. Ready at last we stood before a Justice of the Peace and exchanged vows. Gaia weddings are quicker than those on Earth, with much less to be said. The entire event was over in only a few minutes.

After this we returned to the hotel. Entering the lobby, we found it deserted save for Red who was playing chess with a computer-controlled ghost opponent. He glanced over his shoulder as we passed by and said "Congratulations."

We both stared at him. "How…?"

Red twitched one of his ears. "These aren't just to look good. Fear not, I'll tell no one until you are both ready."

"Thanks pal." I said.

"Of course." Red answered, and returned his attention to the game.

Leaving Red to a game he was certain to win, we retired to my room together…


	30. TEMPUS Fugate

Standard Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy, Green Lantern, or any of their related characters and concepts, nor any of the characters from various other properties making appearances in this chapter. This is a work of fan fiction.

"Courage To Change The Things You Can"

Chapter 30: "T.E.M.P.U.S. Fugate"

Author's Note: Big departure in this chapter, with an important scene not found in the game which will further explain Ganthet's plans and lay the groundwork for where future stories in this timeline are going. Let's begin…

OOOO

As I begin this chapter, there is a very important thing I need to make note of: First, as you'll see, the majority of this installment takes place in another third-person P.O.V. The importance of this is that I did not learn of these events until much, much later; after Aeris and I were reunited…

OOOOOOO

=== Begin Third-Person P.O.V. – Aeris ===

Aeris awoke to find herself alone. She realized quickly that she was not in our room at the Ghost Hotel. She was lying atop a hard cold surface and quickly jumped to her feet to take stock. Looking about, she saw that the floor she had been on was some kind of translucent metal or crystal, which formed an elevated pathway perhaps twelve feet wide and several hundred feet long. There were no berms or handrails or any type of safety guards to prevent a person from going over the edge and falling. Falling to what, she could not tell, there was no indication of a bottom.

At one end, the path connected to what looked like a large, rocky mountain except that it was floating suspended in an apparent abyss. The opposite end of the path led to a doorway into a massive structure which was also floating. The structure, composed of the same material as the path, looked to be several hundred floors in height and at various places more pathways extended outward, each connecting to another floating mountain. The sky was like a photo-negative of a normal night sky, pure white background with black pinpoint 'stars' and grey nebulae. She noted that this sky extended in all directions, not just above but also below, as if the entire amalgam of building, paths, and mountains were suspended in the vacuum of space.

"I'm dreaming…" Aeris thought to herself. "But… The only time I've had a dream that I realized was a dream was when Ganthet spoke to me and Christian…" She stood for a short time longer, wondering how to proceed. "Building or mountain?" she wondered, trying to decide which way to walk.

Then, from behind, Aeris heard a voice. "Welcome to Vanishing Point."

Turning, she saw Ganthet approaching from the tower, floating a couple of feet of the ground so that his eyes were level with hers. "Ganthet." She replied. "Where are we? And why isn't Christian here with us?"

"I apologize for this intrusion." Ganthet said. "And for bringing you here alone as well. We have much of importance to discuss, however, and much of it is knowledge your new husband must not possess just yet."

"I'm not sure I like the sound of that."

"Nor do I. It cannot be helped. Come, let me introduce you to the counsel." Ganthet turned and led the way back to the tower. Aeris followed and Ganthet continued "As for where we are, as I said, this place is called 'Vanishing Point.' It is an apt name, for it is less a where than a when… You see, this place…" (Here he gestured about in a wide arc) "…Is the end of time."

"What!?" Aeris exclaimed. "How is that possible?"

"The counsel has combined magic, psionics, and advanced Oan and Galifreean technology to create this place as our base of operations. Vanishing Point exists, forever static, quadrillions of years in your future, in the final picosecond of time before the heat death. The last moment before the entrophy of our multiverse reaches one hundred percent and the reality we know crumbles, to be replaced by that which comes next."

"And the counsel is what? Yourself and the other Guardians?" Aeris asked as they approached the building.

Ganthet shook his head sadly. "No… No, I fear my fellow Guardians are far too aloof to pay attention to the things that really matter. Therefore I have had to ally myself with others; Time travellers and wise men and wizards from across the multiverse. Together, we are establishing the organization known as T.E.M.P.U.S., which will protect all worlds and times from threats such as Jenova."

Ganthet fell silent, and Aeris asked no more questions until they reached their destination. Ganthet waved a hand towards a massive set of double doors which opened of their own accord, and together they entered the chamber where Ganthet's counsel met. Aeris stood before the high bench while Ganthet took his chair at the center.

Aeris looked over the assembled counsel. From left to right she saw the following: In the first chair was a serious looking man, perhaps forty years old, with slightly greying blonde hair. He was tall but average looking, dressed in a tweed jacket and other clothing that seemed a hundred years or more out of style. Standing at his side was a more intriguing specimen: short, with pale albino-white skin and white hair, thick heavy goggles over his (or her, Aeris couldn't tell) eyes and a one piece jumpsuit.

In the second seat was a tiny creature, female, perhaps two feet tall with short legs and a head that seemed too large, given that it was no smaller than that of a full size human. She had blonde hair pulled into a pair of short pigtails and radiated an aura of immense magical power. Aeris quickly came to see that this being always spoke in rhyme.

The third seat was filled by a thin, ungainly-looking man sporting an odd hat covering unruly hair and a long colorful scarf. Like the small female Aeris sensed something very powerful to this fellow, though not magic. A dark-haired young woman stood behind him.

Fourth place was held by a three foot tall vaguely reptilian creature with green skin, long pointed ears, and a shock of thin grey hair. He was dressed in thick beige, grey, and brown robes with covered everything but his head, three fingered hands, and three-toed feet. A walking stick was propped unceremoniously against his chair.

The fifth seat, at the center, was Ganthet's. To his immediate right sat a very tall man dressed in grey robes and a tall pointy grey hat. His beard, also grey, was so long that it continued out of sight behind the bench. A sword was balanced across his lap, and a long and heavy looking wooden staff leaned against the wall behind him. As with the short female Aeris felt great power here, more than she had ever encountered in a single being.

The occupant of the seventh seat seemed incongruous; A small white dog. Standing behind the chair was a young red-headed boy of perhaps ten. Aeris wondered why this boy would be a part of the counsel, and why the dog got the chair instead of him. Then the dog spoke and she realized _it_ was the counsel member…

Seated in the eighth chair was a bald man in flowing white robes. An unusual tattoo adorned this man's head. Aeris felt some power within him, though there was also a great feel of wisdom and the knowledge of centuries.

Finally, the ninth seat was held by an elderly man with wild grey hair and a slightly crazed look in his eyes. An oddly dressed young man stood behind him, also seeming out of place in such a company.

As Aeris returned her attention to Ganthet, he said "Now then, we have much to say and little time. First, given that your world is the one in the most immediate danger I have invited one other to join us." Ganthet looked past Aeris, over her shoulders towards the doors. She turned to look.

Entering the chamber was the most regally beautiful woman Aeris had ever seen. She was very tall, solidly built, dressed head to toe in shining golden armor. Though she had never seen this person before something within Aeris, perhaps a part of her Cetra heritage, told her who it had to be. "Lady Minerva…" She whispered.

"Greetings, daughter of Ifalna." Minerva answered. "I am most pleased to make your acquaintance." She looked up and added "Let us make haste Guardian. Unlike your counsel, I have only one world to preserve and little desire to remain apart from it."

"Quite." Ganthet agreed. "Now, Aeris, Christian has told you what I originally told him; That Jenova poses a threat to every world in the multiverse, and that in all possible futures I discerned but one in which she could be finally beaten before any more worlds are destroyed. This is why I sent him to insure your survival, for this future can be realized only if you live."

"I still don't understand how my survival can make that big of a difference though." Aeris replied. "I mean, Holy would be cast even if I died, right?"

"Indeed." The tall bearded man answered. "But this would not be enough. As Sauron the Black survived the destruction of his physical body so Jenova's essence would live on… And with no more Cetra to summon Holy again, when she returned Gaia would be doomed."

From the far end of the counsel, the goggle-wearing albino spoke with a gurgling voice. "In order for events to proceed as we require, Jenova must be reduced until she is weak enough to be beaten."

"But this cannot happen on Gaia, you see… Already too weak to survive it is she!" the small female added.

"Therefore, we must force Jenova to flee from Gaia to another world, and then another and another." Ganthet said.

The green creature spoke. "Grow weaker she should, with each journey forced… Ever less able a threat to pose."

"But… Doesn't that mean other worlds will be in danger of being destroyed?" Aeris asked. "I want my world to live of course, but if it means throwing someone else to their death…"

The dog answered "A fair question… The same one Sherman here asked me, in fact. There is little room for discussion though. If Jenova remains on Gaia, that world will die. As the professor (Here he glanced towards the short female) said Gaia is simply too weak from so many long centuries of battling against her."

"But…" said the man in the tweed jacket, "Other worlds are still strong. They will be better able to weather the damage Jenova might inflict upon them."

"Especially since she will only be present on any given one for a short time before we force her to flee once more." The albino explained. "The odds of another world being destroyed are minimal… one in three times ten to the seventieth, by my calculations."

Aeris held up her hands at this last. "Hold on, I'm confused… Ganthet, you said you looked at the future, saw what would happen… But now you guys are talking like there's no certainty, using words like 'should' and 'might' and speaking about 'the odds' of what will happen… Which is it?"

"I'm afraid it's both luv." The man in the scarf answered. "Timey-wimey ball and all that. Hard to explain…"

"Hard…" the green creature snorted. "Always in motion, the future is."

The bald man finally spoke. "If I may suggest… Time, as Lady Minerva reminded us, is short. We need to focus on the subject at hand." He looked to Aeris and continued "Other forces are beginning to exert themselves against us. They are making our foresight more difficult, and creating problems which even we must deal with indirectly. That is why you were bought to us without Christian. What we tell you next, he must not know until afterwards…"

Ganthet said "Christian will succeed in saving your life. That is now firmly locked in place. However, you will still be injured and require medical care for some time. And… After the events at Knowlespole, the dark forces in question will make their move. Christian will be torn away from Gaia and back to his own world, his memories of his time in your world blocked."

"Can't you stop that? If you know it's coming…"

Ganthet shook his head with what seemed like genuine sorrow. "This will happen mere moments after your injury… To stop it would require steps that would prevent your survival."

"Be of good cheer." The bearded man said. "You will recover. Ganthet has already set in motion plans to spirit you to safety while Avalanche, Jenova, and Sephiroth are distracted. And you will be reunited with Christian in his world once your recovery is complete."

"And then what?" Aeris asked. "Do we just sit things out knowing what we do?"

The dog replied "Not at all. Lady Minerva will provide you with what is needed to reach Christian's world. And, when the time is right, you will return to Gaia and rejoin your companions to aid them once more."

"I guess that's it then… There's no choice, is there?"

"There is always a choice, daughter of Ifalna." Minerva said. "But not all choices are equally good. Stay the course, do what must be done, and when it is over I will visit you once more and confer upon you the Heart of Gaia."

The bald man's eyes widened at this last. "Is the situation truly dire enough for that Milady?"

"Yes." Minerva confirmed. "It's power will be needed in the final confrontation. But now, my time here is over. I must return to the care of my world." With a shimmering of light and a rush of air, Minerva vanished.

Aeris turned back to face Ganthet again. For several moments no one spoke. Finally she asked "So… Who are these 'dark forces' you're speaking of?"

"They are too many to name." Ganthet answered. "And, aside from that, the majority are names you would not recognize anyway. But, for now it is time for you to return to Gaia as well. Good luck child… We will meet again in time…"

Aeris awoke a moment later, and spent the rest of the night wondering how she was going to handle these new revelations…

OOOO

Author's Note Two: Contest time! Kudos to whoever can identify the largest number of Ganthet's counsel members. Most should be pretty easy, but a few are rather obscure. To save a lot of trouble, I'll give the hint that the 'bald man with a tattoo on his head' is NOT the Airbender guy.


	31. Keystone Kats

Standard Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy, Green Lantern, or any of their related characters and concepts. This is a work of fan fiction.

"Courage To Change The Things You Can"

Chapter 31: "Keystone Kats"

The morning after Cloud's victory at the Battle arena, Aeris and I arose and ordered in room service from the Ghost Hotel's kitchen. The food arrived and we made plans while we ate. "As soon as we're finished up here," I said, "I'm heading to the museum and not letting the keystone out of my sight."

Aeris shook her head. "I'm wondering if there's any point."

"How do you mean?"

"Well, suppose we did prevent Cait from taking the thing… Would it really accomplish all that much? For all we know Shinra would just find a way to force their way through the security systems anyway. Or Sephiroth might on his own. Maybe we should just play this through the way it's supposed to go, at least as far as Knowlespole." She replied.

"That's an awful risk Aer."

"Nah, I really don't think it is." She said smiling. "I'm confident in you."

"I'm not."

"Then you need to change that. Have some faith… It'll be rough, sure, but we'll both come through it in the end…"

I laughed slightly. "You know something I don't?"

Later, Aeris would tell me that she very nearly spilled the beans about her meeting with Ganthet and his allies then. Instead, remembering his admonitions, she said "I know that Ganthet must've chosen you for a reason… He wouldn't have grabbed just anyone out of their world, right? Look, maybe what we should do is this: We'll go ahead with your plan to try to stop Cait, but if it doesn't work then we set our minds on seeing the rest through."

"I guess that's how it'll have to be." I agreed.

After eating, we planned to proceed straight to the Battle Square museum. But before this could happen, a loud banging came on my door. "Yo Christian! Up and at 'em! We got a problem!" Boomed Barrett's voice.

"What!?" I asked. From down the hall I heard the sound of Yuffie banging on the door of Aeris' empty room.

"The damn cat is what!" Barrett answered. "Cait's ripped off the Keystone! Cloud an' Teef are huntin' him down but we need help!"

"Alright, you go ahead!" I shouted back. "I'll head for Wonder Square!" Barrett agreed and I heard the sound of his heavy boots clomping away down the hall. "That was fast." I said to Aeris. "I didn't really expect this til' after dark."

The sound of Yuffie banging futilely on Aeris' door continued. "C'mon Aer! Wake up!"

"What will be will be." Aeris said to me. "How we gonna handle Yuffie knowing I spent the night here?"

"I don't really care what she thinks." I answered. "And she probably won't notice anyway. This is Yuffie we're talking about."

"It's Yuffie, yes. But she's also a teenage girl. She'll notice." Aeris said as we walked to the door. "Oh well, I had hoped no one would know 'til afterwards… Risk of unpredictable changes and all… but it can't be helped."

We exited into the hall and went to Yuffie. She spun around in surprise as Aeris said "I'm already up Yuff, let's go already!"

"Okay good!" Yuffie said. She began to speak rapidly, but slowed as realization hit her; "Cloud and Teef are looking for Cait in the Battle Arena, Barrett's watching the main hub, and Red, Vinny and Cid have Rount, Event, and Speed Squares covered… I'll hit the Choco Tracks if you guys take the arcade… and… Wait a minute… Where were you anyway?" She stared at Aeris.

"None of your business."

Yuffie blushed. "Oh my god, were you two…?"

"Not now Yuffie!" I snapped. "Chocobo Square!"

"Oh, right!" She rushed off with many a backwards glance…

OOOOOOO

=== Begin Third-Person P.O.V. : Cloud ===

"There he is!" Tifa shouted, pointing. Cloud turned to see Cait Sith, Keystone in hand, run around a corner and out of sight. They gave chase, and pursued the cat through the back monster-holding areas of the Battle Arena. Behind cages, the creatures roared and bellowed but could do nothing. Cait got a slight lead and used it to open the gate into the actual arena. Cloud and Tifa chased him through, leaping over the dead body of the King Behemoth Cloud had slain and the park employees trying to clean it up in time for the night's duels, then out and past a startled reception clerk.

"What in the world is he thinking?" Cloud asked.

"Beats me." Tifa answered. "Though, he is a robot… Maybe someone's remotely controlling him."

"Someone from Shinra, then." Cloud said.

They chased the robo-cat out of the Battle Square and into the Saucer's main hub. Barrett was waiting there and attempted to tackle Cait. It almost worked. Cloud and Tifa made it just in time to see the cat jump off the back of the captured moogle and keep running on it's own. "Damnit!" Barrett swore, and he joined the pursuit.

They next found themselves in the Speed Square. Cait ran for the roller coaster, hoping to board and take off. He failed to notice the shadow where a shadow shouldn't have been until Vincent grabbed him. "Explain yourself!" the gunman demanded.

"Explain this laddie!" Cait replied, and he threw the Keystone as hard as he could. It arced high in the air, descended, and was caught by…

"What the hell!?" Barrett exclaimed as the second Cait, complete with it's own moogle, caught the Keystone.

"Another one!?" Cloud asked.

Cait number two turned and ran…

OOOOOOO

=== Resume First-Person P.O.V. ===

Barely had we arrived at the entrance of Wonder Square when I saw Cait standing near the location where we had first met him. "Hey cat!" I shouted as we ran towards him. Seeing us, he turned and started to run. Before he could get out of range I cast a bolt spell. The robot shrieked and fell silent, smoke pouring out of the moogle's ears.

"Wasn't that a little excessive?" Aeris asked as we walked up to him.

"It was only a tier-one spell." I answered. "It shouldn't have hurt him that badly."

We knelt down and examined the cat. "There's no keystone here…" Aeris said.

"Hmm… No Keystone… Way weaker than normal… I wonder…" Before I could reach the conclusion on my own, a ruckus of noise arose from the direction of the entrance. Then Cait rushed in, and stared in shock at the Cait I had fried.

"Whoops! So much for that plan!" He said. "I'd better find one of the fully-upgraded copies!" He ran out a different door than he had entered by. Cloud, Barrett, Vincent, and Tifa arrived moments later.

"You got him!" Tifa cheered.

"Afraid not. This seems to be a cheap knock-off. The real one you're chasing just came and left." I said.

"Nuts! Which way did he go?" Tifa asked. Aeris pointed and we all ran out together.

Over the next half hour we chased various Caits around the park. I lost count of how many there must have been. A few seemed to be full-power combat ready models like the one that had travelled with us, but most were flimsy copies. Cid, and later Red, joined us as we came across them. I expect we must have been quite a sight to the other patrons, a large group rushing about after a weird cat, yelling and cursing as we went. It seemed that the Caits were purposely avoiding the Chocobo Square, which made sense given that they would need to get the Keystone there at the last minute.

Finally, the Keystone holder ran for the tube to Chocobo Square. We followed, but when we arrived at the racetracks he was nowhere to be seen. "What the…? Where did he go?" Cloud wondered.

"I was sure he came this way." Barrett said.

"He did." Vincent said. "Strange."

"Hey guys! Look what I caught!" Came the sound of Yuffie's voice. We looked to see her approaching with a Cait struggling in her grip. "Of course, he doesn't have the Keystone," Yuffie continued. "I can't get him to tell me where it is."

"Why, it's right here Lass." The Cait said. He motioned to someone behind us, and Yuffie gasped as I turned to see what she saw. Another Cait, holding the Keystone, ducked out of a door and threw it to the Cait Yuffie was holding. That particular Cait took advantage of her shock to free himself, leap on top of her head, jump, grab the Keystone, and run.

We tried to follow, but as soon as we rounded the next corner we found our path blocked by an army of Caits, at least a hundred of them. "I hate cats…" Barrett said.

"The feeling is becoming mutual." Vincent agreed.

Beyond the wall of robots, a helicopter appeared from somewhere below the square, rising into view past the edge. Cait threw the keystone to it's pilot, who then flew away.

With that, the army of Cait's dispersed and soon only one was left. He faced us and we faced him. "Sorry about that Lads, Lasses. We had no choice."

"There's always a choice." Tifa said. "So, what, you've been a spy this entire time?"

"Is there really even a 'you' or are you just some guy at a remote control board in the Shinra Tower?" Yuffie wondered.

"Aye to the first question." Cait answered. "I was indeed sent ta' spy on you. A qualified aye to the second question… Yes, there is a guy at a control board, but there's also a real 'me' in here. I call the shots unless I'm told otherwise."

"And who is the 'guy at the control board'? Red asked.

"I can't answer that Lad. Not allowed. Anyway, let's just pack up and go. If we hurry, Rufus will only get to the temple a few hours ahead of us."

"Us!?" Barrett demanded. "What da hell makes you think we'll let you stay with us after this!?"

Cait shrugged. "It's your choice. But, I'd like to continue. The real me really wants to help you out."

Cid said "That's not the issue. The damned issue is, what happens the next time your controllers make you turn on us?"

"It's a fair question." Red agreed.

"Aye, that it is." Cait admitted. "Still, you can be alert for it now that you know… And I might be able to smuggle you inside information as well."

"That's good enough for me." Cloud said. "We can't waste time arguing here. Let's move, I want to be on Rufus' heels when he goes in the temple…"

Author's Note: Wow, didn't get many guesses on the identity of the Tempus counsel members last week. Oh well, for those interested, here are the answers:

1: "Serious man with greying blonde hair in a tweed jacket, with a goggle-wearing albino companion." Short answer, the Time Traveller from H.G. Wells. Longer answer, Steven Baxter wrote a sequel to Well's book called 'The Time Ships.' This is the version of the character from that book. His albino companion is Nebogibfel, a civilized, super-intelligent Morlock scientist from one of the alternate futures seen in the sequel.

2: "Two foot tall female with blonde hair. Always speaks in rhyme. Has great magic power." Professor Shantoto from Final Fantasy 11.

3: "Ungainly looking man with unruly hair and a long colorful scarf, with a female companion." The Fourth Doctor.

4: "Small, green, vaguely reptilian creature with thin grey hair and long ears. Dressed in robes and with a walking stick propped against his chair." Master Yoda.

5: Ganthet, of course.

6: "A tall man with a long grey beard. Dressed in grey robes and with a pointy grey hat. Has more magical power than Aeris had ever felt in one being." Gandalf the Grey, though to the person who suggested Merlin, that's not a bad idea…

7: "A small white dog, accompanied by a red-headed boy of perhaps ten." Mr. Peabody.

8: "A bald man in flowing white robes, with a tattoo on his head. Feel of some power and great wisdom. Not the Airbender guy." Oracle Himerish from W.I.T.C.H.

9: "An elderly man with wild hair and a slightly crazed look in his eyes, with a young, seemingly out of place companion." Doctor Emmitt Brown.

So there you have it, though this probably isn't the entire counsel. I've considered adding Rip Hunter from DC's Linear Men, for example.


	32. Event Horizon

Standard Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy, Green Lantern, or any of their related characters and concepts. This is a work of fan fiction.

"Courage To Change The Things You Can"

Chapter 32: "Event Horizon"

The Temple of the Ancients. Rising majestically above the surrounding jungles like an island of stone in the midst of a sea of green, the structure was visible for miles in all directions. As we drew ever closer, more and more details came into view: the entrance chamber at the pinnacle, the outer walls, the great stones, perfectly set without any sign of mortar or other binding agents yet still in flawless alignment even after thousands of years.

"Magnificent." Red said as we arrived at the gates.

"It still looks brand-new." Tifa said. "Like it was just built yesterday. How can it still be in such good repair after so long?"

"An excellent query." Red concurred.

"Aw hell, I guess the Cetra just built things to last." Cid replied, but Red disagreed.

"I'm certain they did 'build things to last.'" He said, "But not like this, surely? No one could do something like this. Look, we're in the midst of a tropical jungle. It rains here, hard, probably every single day. Rain, three hundred seventy days a year, for thousands of years. Hundreds of thousands of rainstorms. Yet, there is no indication of hydrological erosion."

I resisted the urge to laugh at the statement 'three hundred seventy days a year.' I guessed it would have been odd if Gaia's year was exactly the same length as Earth's. Instead I asked "Then how do you explain it? You say impossible, but here it is right in front of our eyes."

Red shook his head. "I don't explain it. Aeris…?"

"I don't know either." Aeris answered. She started to take a few steps forward, then suddenly fell to her knees, holding her head. We ran to Aeris' side and knelt all around her, asking if she was okay and what was wrong. "I'm… okay…" She managed to say. "It's this place… I can hear it… What? What? I'm sorry, I can't understand you… You're afraid? Why? Sephiroth? But…"

As the episode passed, I asked "Are you okay?"

Aeris nodded, but was unable to speak for nearly a minute. Finally she said "I'm sorry if that scared you all… It's the Temple. It's aware, trying to speak to me, but I couldn't totally follow what it was saying. We need to hurry though, if I understood properly Sephiroth is already inside."

"Then let's move." Cloud said. He started to run towards the temple then stopped and looked back. "You're okay to continue?"

"Yeah. But I think as long as we're here you'll need to be prepared for that kind of thing to happen again."

As we all approached the temple and began the long, long climb to the top I thought to Aeris "You're alright? That looked like it was pretty hard on you."

"It was, but not as hard as I think it would've been without your warning that it was coming." She answered. "Coming up's the hard part… acting shocked to find Tseng here. I just hope I'm able to save him…"

OOOOOOO

At the pinnacle of the temple we found the door leading into the keystone chamber. It was opened, the stone seal off to the side, and we cautiously entered. A sound reached our ears, that of a man groaning in pain. Then Tseng appeared from behind the center pillar. "Oh… It's you…" he managed to breathe out. "Be cautious… I've been had." He fell to the floor.

"Tseng!" Aeris exclaimed. She immediately began casting Cure on him.

As the spell's effects took hold in a shimmer of green light, Tifa objected. "Aeris!? What are you doing? This is an enemy!"

"I know Teef…" Aeris said. "But he's also one of only two people I've known my entire life… And the guy who knew where I was for years yet didn't turn me in until he had no choice… Enemy or not, I owe him, and I'm not prepared to just let him die here." She began casting Cure again.

"Well…" Tifa responded, but had nothing else to actually say.

After the second Cure spell, Aeris knelt by Tseng's side to access his condition. While she looked him over he said "Thank you for the effort… Though I'm not sure it's enough." He smiled at Aeris then looked at Cloud. "I guess you want into the Temple… Here…" Tseng struggled to move and produced the keystone, handed it to Cloud. "Just put it in the slot on top of the central column… But be careful… Sephiroth is somewhere inside…"

Cloud nodded, then asked Aeris "How is he?"

"The Cures helped, but they weren't enough. Tseng, is anyone coming back for you?"

Tseng nodded. "Elena should be here soon. I'm surprised she's not shown up by now."

Standing, Aeris said "Okay… Magic's not going to be enough to save you. You need to be in a hospital. But, this should keep you going long enough for Elena to get you to one…" She stepped back and used Healing Wind. The magic enveloped Tseng, and after it had passed he looked much better though still not good.

"Thank you… Now, you'd better move before Elena gets back… One look and she'll jump to the wrong conclusion here…"

Smiling, Aeris said "Thank you Tseng… For everything."

Vincent and I helped Tseng to the side of the room, sitting against a large pillar, and then we all gathered close as Cloud inserted the keystone into it's lock. An intricate pattern recessed into the column began to glow, and then the floor beneath our feet turned considerably less solid than normal and we quickly sank through it…

OOOOOOO

Upon finding ourselves on solid ground once more, the immediate response of more than half of our team was to curse loudly over the shock of how we had passed through the floor. As this calmed down we took stock of the situation. We were in the midst of a landscape of stone platforms and stairs that looked more like an Escher painting than anything I had ever expected to see in reality. "Where are we?" Yuffie asked.

"We've got to be inside the temple don't we?" Cait replied. "After all lass, we passed through the floor."

"Nah man, look around!" Barrett said. "We outside! You can see the sun, the sky!"

"But Cait's right, that doesn't make any sense." Yuffie said. "We passed into the Temple."

"Perhaps we are still within the temple, in spite of the sunlit sky." Red said. "I suspect we've entered a spatial tesseract within the Temple's interior."

"A… Tesser… whatsis?" Yuffie asked.

"A tesseract is a place where the fabric of space is so severely distorted that it can be bigger on the inside than it is on the outside." I said. Half the group gave me an odd look when I said this, so I explained "It is entirely possible that I read way too much science fiction as a kid."

"I would say yes." Red said, chuffling lightly in laughter. "But an accurate description. In fact, I now wonder if the entire temple interior isn't comprised of one or more of these tesseract folds… Hmm… It might even explain the temple's resilience to the elements, if it is not entirely in-phase with the rest of the world…"

"It'd take some pretty damned impressive technology to pull off what you're describing…" Cid said. "Not what you'd expect in a stone-age temple."

Aeris said "There's more to this place than stone-age technology. Though, I expect what Red's talking about could be done with really powerful magic instead of technology. And we know my ancestors had that in abundance."

Everyone nodded. Then there was a sound from nearby, and a strange little man appeared from around a corner, jumped in shock at the sight of us, and ran quickly away. We followed through the bizarre architecture, eventually cornering him in a small chamber.

"What is he?" Yuffie asked.

Aeris stepped forward and reached out her hand as she knelt in front of the figure. It made a series of incoherent sounds. "This… This is the lingering spirit of a Cetra… He can't speak to us, but I'm getting some impression from him… There are several of them here, guarding the temple."

"Can they help us with Sephiroth?" Cloud asked.

"No… Guarding is a misnomer. They can't really do anything…"

"Then let's move on…"

OOOOOOO

Proceeding further into the temple, we ran the gauntlet of rolling boulders and found the great clock beyond. As we entered the room, a deep voice boomed out of the air: "I am the Guardian of Time. Choose your path."

"What? What is this?" Cloud asked.

"My hands shall be your bridges to cross over." The Guardian answered. "Choose and proceed."

"I get it!" Tifa said. "We say which door we want to get to by telling the clock a time to turn to! See? Each door lines up with an hour on the clock face!"

"Hey, she's right!" Cid agreed.

"So, which 'hour' are we at?" Barrett asked. He leaned back and looked up, but said "The top o' the doorjamb sticks out too far… I can't see the number over our door."

"What's it matter?" Cid asked. He shouted "Hey! Give us a bridge to, uhh… twelve, I guess." The hands began to turn, and shifted about until the minute hand faced our door, and the hour hand towards a door with a large number "XII" over it. I chose not to consider the implications of Roman numerals in this world.

Once the hands were aligned, Cid and Cloud started to cross, but before they got far, a new motion entered the picture: The rapidly circling second hand came into view from the far side of the clock face, headed right for them. Tifa shouted for Cloud to look out and jumped towards him. No one was able to react in time, though, and the three of them were knocked off the minute hand and fell into the darkness.

"Cloud!" Yuffie shouted.

"Teef! Spiky! Cid!" Barrett echoed.

"We've gotta go after them!" Yuffie exclaimed. She started preparing to climb down when Barrett's PHS rang.

Barrett answered the call, putting it on speaker and saying "Teef? Spiky? That you?"

"It's us." Came Cloud's voice. "We're all okay."

"Should we climb down after you?" Vincent asked.

"No, don't do that. Stay there, maybe check out all of the doors while you wait on us to get back. We'll find our way back somehow." Cloud answered.

"Alright, that sounds good." Barrett replied.

"Just watch out for that second hand." Cloud said, then hung up.

Exploring the rooms around the clock went smoothly from that point. At the twelve o clock door we found the locked gate, and then began working our way around clockwise. The rooms were almost exactly as depicted in-game, including the annoying puzzle at door six.

After over an hour of chasing the stupid elder-spirit thing in and out of doors we got smart and split up, managing to cover nearly all of his possible exits at the same time. Of course, that meant only that he came out of the one door we didn't have covered. Just like we figured he would. Before he could escape again, Red pounced from the upper level, bringing an end to the hijinks and gaining us the key we needed.

With nothing else to do, we returned to the clock aligned the hands to match our entry point and twelve, then waited. In time we were alerted to the approach of our teammates by the sounds of Cid cursing. "I mean damn Cloud, just running out onto the damned frackin' clock hand without even goddamned looking? Everybody knows clocks have damned second hands you dumb…" On and on he went.

As they entered the room I looked at Tifa and asked "He hasn't let up for a moment in all this time, has he?"

"No." She confirmed. "So, how'd your luck go?"

"Good lass. We found the door that leads further in, and got the key for it as well."

Yuffie added "We found some nice treasures too." She stared at Cloud for a moment, then asked "Uh… Why is he carrying a board with a rusty nail sticking out of it?"

"We found it in an old treasure chest and he thinks it's 'cool.'" Tifa answered, rolling her eyes. "I guess I have to be fair that he's gotten good results with it though."

"Let's get moving." Cloud said. "we've lost enough time as it is."

We crossed over to door twelve and passed through, into the short hallway that ended at the locked gate. Barrett handed the key to Cloud, who slid it into the lock. He didn't even have to turn the key, as soon as it was in the lock the door shuddered as hidden mechanisms pulled it open.

The chamber beyond the door was probably the most beautiful place I've ever seen. It was softly but clearly lit by some variation of materia set into the walls and ceiling, and elaborate frescos lined the surface of every single wall.

"Incredible." Red whispered. "with every new turn this temple astounds me more and more… I wish we had time to study these ruins more extensively."

"Maybe you can come back once this is all over." Tifa said.

From just ahead a familiar voice spoke "Tragically, coming back will soon be impossible."

Everyone swung to face the voice, pulling their weapons as they did so. "Sephiroth!" Cloud exclaimed…


	33. Dark Dark Dark We All Go Into The Dark

Standard Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy, Green Lantern, or any of their related characters and concepts. This is a work of fan fiction.

"Courage To Change The Things You Can"

Chapter 33: "Dark, Dark, Dark; We All Go Into The Dark"

Author's Note: Chapter title is a quote from the works of poet T. S. Eliott.

Everyone drew their weapons as Sephiroth stood facing us. It was apparent that the majority of the team was expecting the climactic battle here and now. Sephiroth, however, had different plans. He turned away and faced the murals along the walls. "Splendid." He murmured.

"Sephiroth! What are you talking about!?" Cloud demanded.

"Hmm? Come further and see." Sephiroth replied, then he vanished in a flash of light.

"The Hell…?" Barrett asked. "Where'd he go?"

"There!" Vincent said, pointing. We looked and saw Sephiroth further in the room, still admiring the murals.

We rushed to catch up, and when we arrived Sephiroth turned to face us again. There was a distinct difference between how he looked now and how he had appeared in our first two meetings. Before, he had radiated a feel of pure evil and deep madness. Now, he seemed even more insane than before, totally detached from reality, but oddly the sense of evil was less pronounced. I supposed that made a little sense; the truly insane aren't really responsible for their actions. You can't choose good or evil if you're too far gone to appreciate the difference, and I suspected that Sephiroth had finally fallen the rest of the way over that edge.

"Answer me!" Cloud exclaimed. "What are you doing here? What do you want?"

"Nothing much." Sephiroth answered. "Just godhood."

"Godhood!?" Tifa asked.

"What in the hell are you talking about?" Cid demanded.

Sephiroth sighed. "Shall I spell it out for you? Tell me, what happens when the planet itself sustains an injury?"

"It draws extra lifestream energy to the site of the injury to repair the damage." Aeris said.

Nodding, Sephiroth said "Exactly. And, the bigger the injury, the more lifestream energy is diverted to it. So, I ask you, what do you suppose would happen if Gaia sustained an injury so severe that it's very existence was threatened?" Sephiroth vanished and reappeared behind us. "An injury so large as to be a mortal wound to the very planet." He said as we swung to face him. As soon as he finished speaking he vanished and reappeared again. This time, an angry Yuffie threw her giant shuriken at him, but once again he teleported across the room out of it's way.

"Alright that's cheating!" Yuffie exclaimed. "Hold still!"

Sephiroth laughed, then said "Yes, a mortal wound. Cloud, come and see." He vanished.

We quickly found Sephiroth again and cautiously approached. Depicted on the wall in front of him, just as in the game, was Meteor falling from the sky. "Behold… The Ultimate Black Magic… Meteor. With it, I can wound Gaia herself."

"Something that falls from the sky?" Vincent asked.

Tifa shook her head. "But… Hold on here! What's the point of this? So you can wound the planet, what good would that do you? If the planet dies so will you!"

"Not at all. Gaia won't die instantly. She will be wounded. She will try to heal herself, but the wound will be so great that it will not be a matter of just diverting some lifestream energy. No, rather all of the energy, the entire lifestream, will flow into the wound. And there, at the center of it, will be I, ready to take the power for myself. And then as Gaia dies I will become a god, albeit a god of death. And then, Mother and I shall journey on and do the same to another world, and another, and another…"

"You're insane." Vincent said.

"Not at all." Sephiroth answered. He vanished again, and as he went said "Cloud! Wake up!"

Cloud fell to his knees, holding his head, mumbling under his breath and laughing. Tifa knelt by his side and tried to help, but she didn't get anywhere. "What should we do?" she asked us, looking us. "What's wrong with him?"

"I have no idea on either count." Red said. "Exposure to Sephiroth seems to have an unusual effect on Cloud's mental state."

I said "Give him a few minutes Teef. He's always came out of these… fugues, or whatever they are, pretty quickly."

We waited, then waited more. Cloud finally pulled himself together after perhaps ten minutes. "Where's Sephiroth?" he asked.

Tifa answered "Forget Sephiroth for now! We've gotta worry about you. What happened Cloud? What's going on?"

Before he could reply, the ground shook, then shook again. Cracks appeared in one of the walls, the signs of something powerful pressing against from the other side, pushing through. "Is it Sephiroth!?" Barrett shouted.

From somewhere came the sound of Sephiroth's voice: "No, it is not I." Then the wall exploded inward. Enter the Red Dragon.

The enormous lizard roared, and struck with a lash of it's tail, sending Cait flying off the back of his moogle. We scattered about the room, searching for good positions from which to fight. Cloud, however, charged, sword ready, and sank the blade deep into the creature's flank. With a savage roar of pain it faced him and breathed fire, a scorching blue-hot flame that just missed it's mark yet still did great damage from the radiant heat. Cloud stumbled for cover, badly burned.

Seeing him wounded, the dragon tried to make it's kill, lunging forward to grab Cloud up in it's mouth. Barrett fired off a volley of shells that slowed the attack, allowing Cloud time to get behind a pillar. Tifa ran to him and started casting White Wind.

Meanwhile, Vincent was shooting from across the room, providing the distraction Cait needed to return to his mount. Once he made it, the robo-cat lashed out with a series of level two thunder spells that annoyed the dragon but did little more. Cid leapt from concealment high into the air, pushed back off of the room's high ceiling, and plunged his lance into the general area of the heart. He missed, apparently, given that the dragon kept fighting. Cid was now hanging on for his life as the lizard tried to buck him off of it's back.

"What should we do?" Aeris asked me as we watched from the pillar next to the one Cloud and Tifa were behind.

"I'm thinking… This thing's a lot worse than the Green Dragons on Mount Nibel."

Red, standing by my side, nodded. "Yes. There is a hierarchy of dragon strength, related to color. Green is the weakest, then blue and red. Only the black-scaled dark dragons are stronger than this."

"Not that that information helps us right now." Aeris said.

"No." Red agreed.

"Maybe we should try the sword-enchantment trick again." I pondered. "It worked wonders on the Materia-Keeper thing."

"No." Red insisted. "Still… One idea is sticking in my mind for some reason…"

"What's that?" I asked.

"Simply that, since dark dragons are stronger than red, it's too bad we don't have one on our side."

Aeris' eyes opened wide when she heard Red say this. "That's it! We kind of do have a dragon on our side… Yuffie!"

From somewhere else, Yuffie's voice answered back "Yeah? You got a plan?"

"Leviathan!" Aeris answered back. "Use that materia Godo gave you and summon Leviathan!"

Atop the dragon's back, Cid hollered out "Now hold on! Bad idea with me in the damned line of fire!" He pulled on the lance again, but it was still stuck firmly in the dragon's flesh.

Healed, Cloud returned to the fray, hacking and slashing, dodging the dragon's breath with more distance than before to not be burned again. Yuffie leapt into sight, threw a spread of shurikens, and landed by our side. She had placed the Leviathan materia into a slot, but said "Cid's right. He'd be in the way. Besides, no one's actually called on Leviathan in centuries… I don't know how strong it'll be!"

I sighed. We were gonna have to handle this one the hard way. "Alright… Aeris keep me shielded and healed. Yuff, who ended up with the Destruct materia after Wutai?"

"No one. It's still in my bag." Yuffie answered, producing it.

"Give that to Red please. Red, Demi as often as you can. Let's go."

Aeris cast Barrier on me, and I rushed in, ducking under the hail of bullets from Barrett and Vincent, to join Cloud. The dragon roared as the first Demi spell hit, then again as Red kept them coming. The confusion of the battle was incredible, bullets, magic, flashing swords, and Cid cursing atop the creature's back. We fought for what felt like hours though in the end it turned out to have been only about twenty minutes when the dragon heaved back, then fell forward with a mighty crash…

OOOOOOO

=== Begin Third-Person P.O.V. : Tseng ===

The first thing he knew, as he came to once again, was the sound of voices. Voices he knew he recognized but couldn't place: Two male, one female. Then he heard (and felt) the vibrations all around him. That he identified quickly enough… He was onboard a helicopter in-flight. Opening his eyes, slowly, painfully due to the bright daylight, he recognized his team, Reno, Rude, and Elena. The latter was shouting.

"If you two dopes hadn't let Cloud go at Wutai Tseng would be okay right now!" Elena exclaimed.

"You don't know that yo." Reno answered. "Besides, what's the boss always tellin' us about honor? Cloud helped us save you. We owed him that one."

"Right." Said Rude.

"Screw honor!" Elena countered. "I do know it was them! They were sinking into that freaky floor-thing when I arrived and there was Tseng on the ground! On the ground with a big ugly sword wound! Who else but Cloud has a sword that big!?"

"Sephiroth…" Tseng managed to say.

The Turks moved in close when they saw their boss was awake. "Good to see you back yo." Reno said. Rude was silent, but nodded agreement.

"What about Sephiroth?" Elena asked.

"You saw wrong… Elena…" Tseng answered. He needed several moments to rest before he could say "Sephiroth attacked me… Not Cloud… And in fact Cloud, well, Aeris, saved my life. Her spells are why I am not already dead…"

"Oh." Elena said, taken aback. "Sorry Reno, I guess you were right in Wutai after all."

"He was." Tseng answered. "And, fear not Reno, I didn't hear what Elena said about you letting them go…" He tried to laugh but couldn't quite get it out in his condition. "So, where are we? What is our situation?"

"We're between Mideel and Kalm, in route to a hospital." Elena answered. "The medics who checked you at the airport said you'll be okay, but you'll need to stay in the hospital for awhile. A week or more, probably."

Tseng shook his head. "Twelve hours."

"That's insane yo. You was almost cut in half boss."

"Twelve hours." Tseng insisted. "I'll take things easy, not exert myself, for however long they say… But I'm not staying there. There's too much to do."

"But Tseng…" Elena began to protest. Reno cut her off.

"You heard the boss El. He's spoken and that's that…"

OOOOOOO

===Resume First-Person P.O.V. ===

"Not bad." Cloud said, surveying the battlefield and the dead dragon. "Good work, everyone."

The chorus of thanks was interrupted by Cid's cursing. His lance was still stuck. He pulled and pulled and it wouldn't budge. We all got a good laugh when Vincent strolled over, calmly pressed the trigger button that made the lance retract into it's portable form, and extracted it effortlessly.

"Hey! What's that?" Yuffie said, pointing to the back end of the room. We ran to where she was pointing and found a short pedestal against the wall. A perfect replica of the Temple hovered over it. "What is it?" Yuffie asked. Everyone looked at Aeris.

Of course, Aeris already knew from my lessons what the model meant, but she thought to me "Acting time." And then said aloud "I'm not sure… Let me ask…" She took a few moments to pretend to be communing with the spirits of the temple, then said "Wow. This is complex."

"What is lass?" Cait asked.

"Okay, don't ask me to explain how, but this entire temple, it's whole structure, somehow _is_ the Black Materia. The ancient Cetra transmuted it or something, I don't know."

"So what do we do then?" Tifa asked.

"We can't let Sephiroth get the Black Materia." Cloud said. "Is there a way to get it out?"

Aeris nodded. "This model. Watch." She bumped the model and the whole temple shook. "There are puzzles inside the model. Each time you work one, the temple will shrink a little. Work them all, and it shrinks all the way back down to the Black Materia. But there's a catch… You cannot remove the model from the temple."

"So?" Yuffie asked.

Red saw and explained "So, whoever works the puzzles will be inside. They will die in the final stage of shrinking."

"Exactly." Aeris confirmed.

"Clever. The Cetra wanted to be sure no one obtained the Black Materia. What better way than this?" Vincent said.

"So, this is good right?" Tifa asked. "We can just leave it here. Sephiroth can't get the thing without killing himself."

"No." Cloud insisted. "Sephiroth has lots of flunkeys at his disposal. Their lives mean nothing to him, and they do whatever he says. We've got to get the Black Materia ourselves, or else he will one way or another."

"But hold on!" Barrett said. "That means one 'o us gotta die! You can't really mean 'ta go through wit that can you?"

"It's the only way." Cloud answered.

"Perhaps I can be of assistance, then." Cait said. Everyone looked at him. "I am just a robot, after all. You can't die if you're not really alive in the first place."

"No!" Yuffie exclaimed. "I won't let you do it!"

"Now now Lass… I'm just a machine. And besides, there are more of me out there. Hundreds of Cait bodies, with my same mind and memories in all of them… I'll come back to you. In point of fact…" He paused a moment then said "There. I've just called for the nearest Cait to come take my place."

"I still don't like this." Yuffie argued.

"Neither do I." Cloud told her. "But there's no other way… We've got to keep the Black Materia away from Sephiroth." He looked at Cait. "Just give us time to get out."

"No worries there Laddie. I'll wait 'til you call me on my PHS, though that means you'll have to buy a new one for the new Cait. Oh! And here! Give this to my new body please." He handed Cloud his megaphone.

"We'd best move out. No tellin' how long we got before Sephiroth or one of his servants shows up." Cloud said.

"Or what we might run into on the way." Barrett agreed.

"Thank you Cait." Cloud said, reaching out to shake the cat's paw. "Good luck."

"To you as well Laddie. Now move, it's my turn to save the planet!"

We rushed out, headed for the exit…


	34. Leviathan Rising

Standard Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy, Green Lantern, or any of their related characters and concepts. This is a work of fan fiction.

"Courage To Change The Things You Can"

Chapter 34: "Leviathan Rising"

Author's Note: Christmas Eve update! Happy holidays everyone, I hope your day is filled with happiness!

As we ran for the exit, leaving Cait behind with the temple model, I grew worried. I knew what we were about to face, and expected it was going to be rough. Perhaps sensing my concerns, Aeris thought to me "There's something else coming, right? Something as bad as the red dragon?"

"Worse." I answered. "We need to be prepared, but there's no warning…"

"Leave it to me." Aeris thought back. She then abruptly stopped running, forcing Tifa and Cid who were behind her to also stop.

"Aer? What's wrong? Why are you stopping?" Tifa asked.

"We gotta move girly!" Cid yelled.

Aeris didn't speak at first, just shushed them with a wave of her hands and then stood perfectly still as if listening to something no one else could hear. Ahead of us, Cloud and the rest of the group had also stopped and were looking back towards us. Then they turned and came back to stand with Aeris. "Do you hear that?" Aeris asked.

After a moment, Vincent said "I hear nothing."

"Right…" Aeris nodded. "Nothing… Nothing at all."

"What are you talking about!?" Yuffie demanded.

"Cait's waitin'!" Barrett said.

I said "I think I get it. It's not just quiet… It's _too_ quiet."

"Calm before the storm." Red agreed. "Yes, I think I feel something as well. Something is coming… We should prepare."

"Barrett, Vincent, make sure your guns are fully loaded." Aeris said.

Though they were uncertain of what might be going on, after so long travelling together everyone trusted Aeris enough to start making sure they were ready for whatever we might encounter on our way out of the temple. Barrett and Vincent reloaded, Yuffie released the clasps on pockets containing shurikens, Cloud drew his sword and Cid his lance. Then we continued on, slowly and carefully.

We came to the great clock, but there was no answer from the Time Guardian when Cloud asked it to align the clock hands on the door we had entered through. "I guess we'll have to go that way." He said pointing to where the hands led, "Unless you all wanna jump down to the bottom."

"Hell no!" Cid said. "I've gone that damn route once today and once was enough!"

"This should be the way out." Aeris said, starting across. We followed.

Beyond the clock lay a long wide hallway. Just barely visible at the distant far end was a gateway. We started forward, cautiously, but before we had proceeded more than fifty feet there was a loud rumble and a large section of the floor fell away just behind us.

"Whoa!" Yuffie exclaimed, barely avoiding falling backwards into the new pit.

"What caused this?" Vincent wondered. "Funny timing."

"Yeah… We got no choice on where to go now." Barrett said.

Peering over the edge, Red said "Fascinating. A true abyss. Given the nature of the temple's tesseract folds I would not be surprised if this pit has no bottom whatsoever."

"Well let's get the hell away from it." Barrett said. "Bottomless damn pits are no place to hang out."

"Right." Cloud agreed. "Let's move on."

So long was the hall that it took us several minutes to reach the gate at the end. We arrived to find a large stone double-door, heavy and solid, with a pair of torches glowing to either side. The door was sealed tightly.

"This is the exit." Aeris said.

"Which does us little good if we can't open it." Vincent replied. "Any ideas?"

"Give me a moment." Aeris said. While she closed her eyes to concentrate, Cloud stepped forward towards the door. He was reaching out to touch it when Aeris opened her eyes and shouted "Cloud! Get back!"

The hallway rumbled and shook. Cloud jumped backwards as the 'door' turned shadowy black, liquid, flowing out of it's frame and filling the hallway from side to side and top to bottom, a wall blocking our path. Then a terrible face and two clawed hands formed out of the wall, and it began inching towards us.

"What the hell!?" Cid exclaimed. Everyone ran about fifteen feet back and regrouped.

"Aeris? What is this thing?" Tifa asked. Aeris shook her head.

"It's a dead thing!" Yuffie shouted. She threw a spread of five shurikens, which struck the wall, imbedding into it's surface. But the surface turned liquid around them, absorbed them, and reformed undamaged. "Crappity-crap crap…" Yuffie said. "We are in for a world of hurt on this one…"

"Magic!" Red said. Knowing I had no way to explain knowing better, I said nothing and allowed Red, Vincent, and Barrett to cast on the wall to no effect.

"It's immune to magic!" Aeris said as the spells did no damage. "Now what?"

"In spite of what happened with the shurikens, we need to attack physically." Vincent said. "It's the only real chance we have."

"Well, we could also fall back to the clock."

I said "No good Yuff. Remember? There's a big hole in the ground back there now."

Yuffie swore as Cloud said "We've gotta do something! This thing's gonna push us back and over the edge if we don't." He ran forward and swung his blade, slashing a large arc of damage into the wall's surface. As with Yuffie's shurikens the wall liquefied and repaired the damage but Cid noticed something.

"Look! It didn't totally fix the damage! There's still a little scarring there!" Cid said.

"Then physical attacks do indeed inflict some damage." Red nodded. "Everyone, press the attack! Don't let up! Otherwise we won't have time before we're pushed all the way to the bottomless pit!"

Cloud struck again, low to the ground so that Vincent and Barrett could open fire over his head. Cid joined him and Tifa started to but Aeris grabbed her hand. "I don't think you wanna punch this thing! Remember what happened to the shurikens!"

Shocked, Tifa stared at her gloved hands for a moment, clearly thinking about what might happen to her if her fists got stuck in the liquefying wall. "I'll help Aeris keep the rest of you healed!" she announced.

"Probably a good idea." I agreed, then I slipped in next to Cid and joined the attack. Meanwhile, Barrett and Vincent were still shooting and Yuffie was throwing a series of grenades Red was providing to her. The wall didn't seem to care for the explosives, which it had a harder time repairing the damage from. Up high were they were exploding significant cratering was appearing in the wall surface, and further down where Cloud, Cid, and I were attacking the surface was getting very rough. Yet, the wall continued to press forward slowly, ever closer to the pit.

Again and again we were forced to move back before continuing the fight. From behind me I heard Aeris say "We're running out of time! I can see the edge of the pit now!" I looked and sure enough there it was, less than three hundred feet away. At the rate the wall was advancing, we had perhaps five minutes left.

We regrouped at the edge of the pit. "I'm open to suggestions." Cloud said.

"Perhaps we could cling to the walls and traverse the pit that way." Red suggested.

"Risky." Vincent argued.

"What about you then Vincent?" Tifa asked. "That creature you became in Wutai… It could fly. You could fly us over."

"I'm game for that at this point." Cid said.

Vincent shook his head. "No. For one thing, I cannot guarantee control. And besides that, I could only carry one of you at a time. There's not enough time for that."

I noticed that Yuffie wasn't in the huddle with the rest of us. She was facing towards the wall a few feet away. "Yuff?" I asked.

Looking over her shoulder, the ninja asked "Would you guys say this is one of those times where it's worth a risk since you'll die anyway if you don't take one?"

"If not it's pretty damned close, why?" Barrett asked.

Yuffie grinned. "Then hold onto your butts, and I'm sorry in advance if this kills us all." She drew her giant shuriken into her usual spell-casting position, and I wondered what she was up to, given that magic didn't do anything to the evil wall. Then I saw: The materia she was activating began to glow. It was red.

Everthing around us began to shake and shudder. Multicolored lights danced around in all directions, and the evil wall actually briefly halted it's advance as some type of portal appeared in the air, and Leviathan emerged, as if swimming, coiling around itself and hovering before Yuffie. "I heed thine call, Heir Presumptive of Wutai." The giant serpent said. "Long has it been since last the call came forth, yet my devotion to Wutai is undiminished. What requirest thou?"

"Holy crap…" Yuffie whispered, staring up at Leviathan.

I stepped next to her. "I understand your awe here, but it's not accomplishing anything to stand around gawking…" I whispered.

"What? Oh, right…" Yuffie looked up at the sea serpent. Pointed to the evil wall, which was advancing again. "That thing is trying to kill me. And my friends too. We've not been able to hurt it and we're running out of room to fight. Can you help us out?"

Leviathan eyed the evil wall. "Doubtless." It said. Swimming through the air Leviathan moved forward, placing itself between us and the wall. Turning it's head to look back at Yuffie the creature said "I suggest, most strongly, holding thy breath."

Everyone did as instructed while Leviathan rose higher in the air, it's head nearly touching the ceiling, flared out it's many fins, and began to shudder slightly as if straining every muscle in it's long sinuous body. A blue glow began to spread out, and then came the water. Precisely _where_ the water came from I cannot say. All I can tell you is that one moment the hall way bone-dry, and the next we were holding our breathes and clinging to the walls and each other as a mighty surge of water, Leviathan's Tidal Wave attack, surged through. More and more water flowed by us, filling the hall, forcing the evil wall backwards, first only a little, then more, and more, finally throwing it violently all the way back to the gateway, where it smashed into the end wall and shattered into a million tiny fragments.

With the evil wall destroyed, the water flowed out through the now open doorway and before long we were once again able to breathe. Standing there, battered about and soaking wet, Yuffie looked almost sheepish as Barrett approached her. It was clear she expected a chewing out. Instead Barrett laughed and slapped her hard on the back. "Heh heh… Not too damned bad kid." He said.

Lowering itself back down to our level, Leviathan now hovered before Yuffie as well. "Thy path to freedom is clear. I would exit swiftly, were I thou. The dark power which composed the evil wall might yet reassemble itself."

"Thank you." Yuffie said.

"Thy life unended is all the thanks I require. Call upon mine power at your discretion, but recall that until thou grow stronger I may only aid you once in any given battle. I take my leave." Leviathan then glowed brightly and vanished from sight.

With Leviathan's warning in mind, we wasted no time in rushing ahead and through the door, exiting the temple and gathering just outside of it's fortifying wall. Cloud contacted Cait and told him we were clear. "All right then Laddie." The cat said. "Best of luck to you all, the new me included."

Cloud hung up and we waited and watched. For a long time nothing seemed to be happening. Then a series of shudders passed through the ground and the entire temple began to grow somehow darker. The sunlight falling upon it was still as bright as ever, but it was as if it wasn't quite reaching the surface. Darker and darker the temple became, and then in a moment's time it shrank out of sight and disappeared.

We all carefully approached the outer wall and stepped through the gate. A vast hole yawned open where the temple had been, and at the very bottom lay a small dark sphere. "The Black Materia." Cloud said. There was a manic undertone to his voice, and a distressing look in his eyes…


	35. But A Man of Honor, Who Can Find?

Standard Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy, Green Lantern, or any of their related characters and concepts. This is a work of fan fiction.

"Courage To Change The Things You Can"

Author's Note: As with the long third-person segment in "TEMUS Fugate," the two third person segments in this chapter involve events Christian does not learn about until much, much later…

Chapter 35: "But A Man Of Honor, Who Can Find?"

===Begin Third-Person P.O.V: Ganthet ===

Vanishing Point. Floating two feet above the floors, the Guardian Ganthet moved quickly through the complex he had built with the aid of Gandalf and other members of the Tempus council. He exited the central tower and crossed a narrow bridgeway, then entered a smaller tower near the perimeter of the base. Inside the structure was similar to the larger main tower. The walls, floors, and ceiling were made of a pure white material partly metal and partly crystal which glowed faintly from within. The middle of the tower was a grand, open lobby which stretched up all the way to the roof, twenty floors above. Circular balconies surrounded and overlooked the lobby from each level. Parked in the middle of the lobby floor was an incongruous object: An archaic blue police box.

As Ganthet approached, the door opened and a man stepped out from the box. "About time Ganthet." He said.

Waving a hand, Ganthet replied "Apologies Doctor. My position as the leader of Tempus affords me few opportunities for social visits. I am quite busy, you understand."

"As are we all. But this isn't a social visit. It's time Ganthet."

"You are certain? I had expected a longer delay, given the unpredictable nature of temporal and transtemporal mechanics."

The doctor grinned slightly. "You Guardians claim to be even more advanced than Time Lords and you can't even keep track of something this simple. Well, no matter. I assure you that the right time is indeed now. If you want to interfere to prevent the girl from dying of her injuries after her protector is snatched away, you must enlist your chosen agent now."

Ganthet nodded and answered "Very well. I trust your judgment Doctor. I will go." He began to glow, wrapped about in green and blue energies, when the Doctor stopped him.

"You speak of how busy you are. Couldn't you send someone else?" He asked.

This time it was Ganthet's turn to grin. "You mean like you? No, I fear your unique… …personality… would do more harm than good in this situation. I will return soon." Ganthet gathered his power and opened a rift in space and time, aiming for a very specific place on the planet Gaia…

OOOOOOO

=== Resume First-Person P.O.V. ===

Cloud rushed headlong down the slopes of the crater left behind by the destruction of the Ancient Temple. He was after the Black Materia, and couldn't stop or even slow himself down to wait for the rest of us who followed at a more measured pace. We reached the bottom to find Cloud already holding the materia.

"It's beautiful, in a way…" Cloud whispered.

"It's evil is what it is!" Yuffie declared. "I may not have the kind of senses Aeris does, but even I can feel it! That's one materia I wouldn't steal even if you paid me the world to do it."

Red agreed. "Indeed… The evil is almost palpable."

Vincent nodded, and Aeris said "Maybe you should put it down Cloud…"

"But… why…? No! No I have to keep ahold of it! Sephiroth could come back any moment!" Cloud exclaimed.

"Now calm down Spikey… Dere's no sign 'O Sephiroth right now." Barrett said.

"No, he's here…" Cloud insisted.

"Can we prevent this?" I thought to Aeris.

"I don't think so." She answered. "Here, let me try to show you what I'm feeling…" I felt the connection that we were able to hear each other's thoughts through grow wider, stronger. Aeris looked at Cloud, at the Black Materia, and I could almost see what she was seeing. The Materia itself looked even darker than usual, as if it were a sort of spiritual black hole, a singularity pulling in and devouring the last of Cloud's self, eroding away his remaining resistance to Sephiroth's influence and control.

"No wonder he's gonna lose control." I thought. "Aeris, stay back. I don't want him hurting you. I'll step in instead."

"You know I can't do that." She argued.

"I know, but…"

"It'll be alright… Have some faith. We'll be alright in the end."

"I'm still staying in front of you."

"I would never expect otherwise."

It seemed that everyone was sensing something wrong with Cloud. But before any actions could be taken, Sephiroth returned, descending from above, landing perhaps fifty feet away from us. "Excellent… Just as I intended. You've done well Cloud. Now give me the Black Materia…"

Cloud moved instantly, walking slowly towards where Sephiroth awaited him. He struggled slightly, murmured and whimpered, managed to delay a bit, but he was obeying.

"Cloud! Stop!" Tifa shouted.

"Spikey! What da hell you doin!?" Barrett demanded.

Everyone rushed Cloud, intending to stop him, but it was to no avail. He threw us off with ease and continued forward to the now laughing Sephiroth. Barrett jumped up and rushed Cloud a second time, but before he could get there Sephiroth raised one hand and a force field appeared, blocking anyone from getting to Cloud. "What the hell's he doing?" Cid demanded.

"I would think that was obvious." Red answered. "He is giving the Black Materia to Sephiroth…"

"But why?" Tifa asked. She shouted loudly "Cloud! Cloud stop!" But he did not.

Cloud reached out and dropped the Black Materia into Sephiroth's outstretched hand. The villain grasped the materia and stretched both arms up in triumph as Cloud fell to his knees holding his head as if in agony. "There! You see mother? I have prevailed, just as I said! Now the power of Meteor is ours, and with we shall shatter this world which so foolishly opposed you!" Sephiroth leapt up, high into the sky, and vanished from sight.

For a moment everything was quiet. Cloud struggled to his feet. "Wh… What…? What did I just do?" He mumbled.

"What did you just do? You wanna know what you just did fool? What you just did is, you just gave the damned Black Materia to Sephiroth!" Barrett screamed. Tifa tried to stop him, but Barrett continued "That's what you just did Spikey, and I'd damned sure like to know why!"

"Why…? Why did I…?"

"It is a valid question." Vincent said. "You say that your objective is to oppose Sephiroth. Yet now you yourself have handed to him the power to kill us all."

"Why Cloud?" Tifa asked. "After everything we've been through…"

Cloud let out an anguished howl, and ran straight towards Aeris. I stood in his path, but knew that there was little hope that I might even slow down one as strong as Cloud was. He reached me and I managed to grab hold, but he pushed by and tried to strike at Aeris who managed to dodge back out of his reach. Pulling hard on Cloud's arm, pulling back, I was able to make him fall backwards before he could try to strike her again. I'm quite sure that I never could have done it normally, but his fragile mental state was working against him. Cloud fell back onto the round and began sobbing uncontrollably. He curled into a ball, into the fetal position, and before long seemed to be comatose.

As we stood about, looking down at Cloud, Tifa knelt by his side and wrapped her arms around him. "It'll be okay Cloud… It'll be okay…" She kept repeating, but he didn't seem to hear her.

Aeris knelt next to Tifa and tried to console her in turn. As she did so she thought to me "Thanks for the save. He really was gonna hit me…"

"Yeah…" I answered. "I'm glad I could stop that, but now things have gone further down this road than I had hoped… We'll have to go to Knowlespole now. I'm not sure how to prevent what's coming there…"

"We'll plan things out on the way to Gongaga." Aeris replied. "Don't worry…"

It was about then that Cid asked "Okay, I'm gonna be real calm here…" He then shouted angrily "Someone tell me what the damned HELL just happened!?"

"We'll figure it out later." Aeris said. "For now, we need to get Cloud to a town, maybe even to a doctor."

"Where's the closest town from here?" Barrett asked.

"Gongaga." Vincent answered. "We should head to Gongaga."

"Then let's get movin.'" Barrett and Cid moved to pick Cloud up. As they did so, a form appeared over the edge of the pit, then jumped down to where we were standing.

"Hello hello Lads and Lasses!" The new Cait Sith said. "Well, here I am, pleased to make your acquaintance though really I'm still Cait and already know you all in a way. So, what did I miss?" No one bothered to answer his question…

OOOOOOO

=== Begin Third-Person P.O.V: Tseng ===

Midgar. The Shinra Building. With a clatter of keys the door to a darkened office opened and a figure entered, reaching over to switch on the lights. Still feeling poor but recovering swiftly from the combination of medical science and Aeris' healing abilities, Tseng walked to his desk and settled into the large chair behind it. Elena followed and took one of the smaller chairs in front of the desk, while Reno and Rude stood.

"Can't you at least take off the rest of the day boss?" Elena asked.

"Yeah, those doctors was pissed when you walked out yo." Reno said. "Said you wasn't good to be goin' anywhere yet."

Tseng laughed lightly. "Thank you for your concern. But I'll be fine. What matters now is our work. Reno, what's the latest on Avalanche and Sephiroth?"

"According to Reeve, something's happened to the old temple. Not sure I understood it all, but he sacrificed one of those weird cat-things to get the Black Materia… I guess Cloud has it now. He'll be able to update us again soon. No word on Sephiroth."

"Alright, that's good. Reno and Rude, go talk to the President. See what he might need your help with until we get more recent intel. Elena, please stay here. Though it pains me to admit it, in my current state I might need help."

"Of course." Elena said. She waited until Reno and Rude were gone, then rose, locked the door, and sat on the corner of Tseng's desk. "Okay, you got rid of them. What's bothering you love?"

"Remember not to call me that." Tseng chided her. "Even in private, it's got to be 'Tseng' or 'boss.' Too much risk of slipping otherwise. But yes, I am concerned. And I've no idea what I could do…"

"Do about what?"

Tseng shook his head. "It's the question of honor. Though I've never held closely to Wutaiian culture, I've always believed in our concept of maintaining honor. It's why I let Reno off for letting Cloud go in Wutai… He acted on honor and I couldn't punish that. But now I've got a big paradox of my own… My loyalty is to the company. It has to be. But I also owe Cloud and Aeris for saving my life. I cannot ignore that debt. What is a man to do when his loyalties and debts of honor are at odds?"

Elena thought for a time before saying "Well… Tseng, what do you think of what Avalanche is trying to do? What do you think of their ultimate goal?"

"I've come to see it as a good thing. Sephiroth threatens the lives of everyone on the planet. Maybe even the planet itself."

"Then isn't that a part of your answer?" Elena asked. "What happens to the company if the planet dies? Helping Avalanche in some way not directly opposed to Shinra's goals is helping to save the planet, and, by extension, to save the company."

Tseng nodded. "Yes. Yes, I'm sure that's right. And as you say, so long as whatever I do does not violate direct orders from the president, I've not been disloyal in any way either. This could work. The only question is, what can I do that fits those criteria?"

"You mean what can _we_ do?" Elena corrected. "If Aeris really saved your life then I owe her too."

"Of course." Tseng agreed. "Very well then, what can _we_ do?"

Then, out of nowhere, a voice spoke: "Perhaps I can provide you with a solution." Tseng and Elena stood, looking around, but saw nothing until, in a burst of green and blue light, a small man appeared floating above the floor in front of the desk. "Greeting. My name is Ganthet. I would speak with you regarding a way to balance the scales of debt."

Elena reacted swiftly, pulling her gun and emptying the magazine at Ganthet, who was unharmed. All of the bullets stopped in mid-flight and clattered harmlessly to the floor. Tseng reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Calm yourself Elena." He said. "It's clear we cannot harm this person. Let's hear him out." He then said to Ganthet "I'm listening. But this is very strange."

"I understand. Yet, I can assure you I am a friend. As I said, my name is Ganthet. I am a Guardian, a protector of many worlds, and as it is your world under threat the bulk of my attention at present is focused here."

"You said you had a way for us to 'balance the scales of debt?'" Tseng asked.

Ganthet answered "Yes. Please appreciate that the explanation I am going to give you is incomplete; we simply do not have time for everything. Listen closely then: I have some ability to observe the future. Both certain futures, and possible ones. In studying the threat to your world, I saw that Sephiroth would obtain the Black Materia, that Aeris would cast the spell to block it's power, and that Sephiroth would then kill her."

"She is to die then?" Tseng asked. "Can she be saved?"

"That is precisely where I am going with this. Sephiroth is only a part of the threat to Gaia. The Jenova entity is much more dangerous. I saw that if Aeris died there would be no more Cetra, no one to block the Black Materia's power when Jenova tried again. Therefore I sent an agent into your world to protect her. He has succeeded thus far, but now Sephiroth has the Black Materia, and cosmic forces opposed to my work are moving to remove my agent from the picture. I cannot stop them without destroying everything I have worked for."

"And this is where Tseng and I come in, isn't it?" Elena asked.

"Tell me what we need to do." Tseng agreed. "Honor does not permit me to stand by when I could assist in saving a life that I owe my own life to… Not to mention, I've known Aeris since her childhood…"

"You must travel to Knowlespole, an ancient Cetra city which I will show you the location of." Ganthet began. "Do not interfere as Sephiroth attacks. My agent will prevent her death, though not her injury, and then he will be spirited away by the powers that are working against us. Then, while Sephiroth and Avalanche are distracted, you must retrieve the girl and take her to a hospital for treatment."

"We'll do as you ask." Tseng said. "Though, I am confused. Why exactly should we wait for her friends to be distracted? If we take Aeris away like that, they'll think she's died."

"Just as they need to think at that juncture." Ganthet answered.

"Tseng, are you sure you're up for this?" Elena asked. "You're still not recovered. I could handle it alone, I'm sure…"

"That would fulfill your debt of honor but not mine." Tseng replied. "I'll be fine… And if not, well, we'll be at a hospital once it's over, won't we?" He turned back to Ganthet and asked "How long do we have?"

Ganthet held out his right hand and formed a map of Gaia from green energy. Pointing to a certain location he said "This is Knowlespole. You must move quickly, and you must approach from the north, for the Sleeping Forest guards the site from the south. If you leave within four hours, you will arrive in time."

"We'll be underway in one." Tseng said. "Elena, go round us up some cold-weather gear, I'll arrange the flight…"

OOOOOOO

=== Resume First-Person P.O.V. ===

Night fell as we boarded the Bronco and headed north towards Gongaga. I sat on the wing just outside the fuselage and Aeris joined me. Laying her head on my shoulder she asked "Okay, run me through the next series of events again…"

"We take Cloud to Gongaga. You leave, heading north to Knowlespole, before he wakes up. You send him a dream somehow, that tells him where you've gone. Cloud and the rest follow, and find you at Knowlespole. Sephiroth tries to force Cloud to kill you, and when he resists it…" I couldn't continue any further.

"When Cloud resists it, Sephiroth does the job himself." Aeris finished.

"Yeah."

"Okay… How should we proceed? I'm thinking that I shouldn't just rush off… We should wait for Cloud to wake up and guide them there ourselves."

"What…? Why?"

"Well, for one thing, it just might get us there sooner… I don't know about you, but I have no idea how I would get from Gongaga to the far north by myself without the Bronco."

Surprised, I said "Huh… In all this time it never occurred to me to wonder how you made that trip… And now you don't know either? Okay, what's your second reason?"

Aeris smiled. "How could I send Cloud a dream? My mental link is with you, not him. Unless you're willing to stay behind in Gongaga…"

"No way, I'm not leaving your side right now."

"Okay then." Aeris said. "There you have it. When Cloud wakes up, we'll tell everyone that I need to go to a certain place to cast the counter-spell to Meteor. We can tell them the temple told me as it shrank down, I guess… Then we'll go together, and the rest is up to you."

"Yeah… Up to me…" I said. "I'm not that sure of myself Aer…"

"Well I am. Just remember, regardless of what might seem to be, it'll all work out in the end. I'm confident of that." Aeris said. I wished my confidence were as strong as hers…


	36. Nightmare

Standard Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy, Green Lantern, or any of their related characters and concepts. This is a work of fan fiction.

"Courage To Change The Things You Can"

Chapter 36: "Nightmare"

Upon arriving at Gongaga, we hustled Cloud to the town's sole physician. He was a tall, thin, elderly man who brimmed over with an energy that belied his years. Hustling back and forth across his small office he ushered us in and directed Barrett to place Cloud on a small narrow bed. Bending low over his patient, the doctor examined Cloud closely. "What happened to him?" He asked.

"That's hard to describe." Tifa answered. "He's been having some… issues… whenever an enemy of ours is around. This time it got worse than normal."

The doctor considered this. "Strange. I've never heard of such a thing. Well, he's not really in a coma exactly, this is something different… See how he's shaking and mumbling under his breath? I suspect this poor fellow is struggling against himself within. He'll wake up when he reaches some kind of resolution, though whether that resolution will be permanent or temporary, who can say?"

"And you say you've never seen the likes of this?" Red asked. The doctor startled back, but shook his head no.

Vincent asked "Can we stay, at least for the night?"

"Of course." The Doctor said. "I've got plenty of beds here, as you can see, and I'm unlikely to need them in a town so small, truthfully they're leftovers from the reactor explosion crisis." He walked to the door and added "There's nothing I can actually do for the boy, so other than checking in on him every hour or so I'll give you all your privacy."

Once the doctor was gone, Barrett, Vincent, Cid, Yuffie, and Red all stared at Tifa. "We need to discuss this." Vincent said. "Something is going on with Cloud."

"I know, but I don't know what it is!" Tifa exclaimed.

Seeing that everyone else was about to pile Tifa full of questions about Cloud, Aeris said, quietly, "Excuse me?" Everyone looked at her. "I understand why you have questions about Cloud." She said. "So do I… But, I think that's secondary. What matters is the Black Materia. Now that Sephiroth has it, he can summon Meteor. Stopping that has to take priority over figuring out what's wrong with Cloud."

"She's got a point lads and lasses." Cait said.

Yuffie peered out a window, up at the sky. "Yeah, but… Since he's got it, why hasn't he used it yet? I mean we're still alive, and I don't see any big giant meteor up in the sky…"

"The meteor could coming in on the other side of the planet." Cid said.

Shaking her head, Yuffie said to him "You are horribly negative, you know that?"

"Actually no, Meteor hasn't been summoned yet." Aeris said. "As the temple shrank down, the Cetra spirits within told me everything. I have one bad piece of news and two good."

"Let's get the bad out of the way first." I said, "Then maybe the good will cheer us back up."

"Okay, the bad news is, Sephiroth is able to use the Black Materia, and if he does the meteor is calls on will be every bit a destructive as he expects it to be. Gaia itself will die if it reaches the planet's surface. The first piece of good news is, and this answers your question Yuff, he hasn't cast the spell yet because he can't. Meteor takes so much energy that even someone like Sephiroth can only cast it from certain locations where the lifestream is exceptionally concentrated and powerful."

"Okay, that's good then." Barrett said. "But doesn't it just buy us a little time?"

Red nodded. "Correct. There are several such locations Sephiroth could choose between, too many for us to be certain of intercepting him before he arrives."

"Luckily, we don't have to." Aeris said. "That's the other piece of good news. I now know what this is for." She held out the White Materia. "It contains a spell called Holy. If I cast it, it will counter Meteor and protect the planet."

"Incredible." Red said.

Playing along, I said "You see? We told you it had to be good for more than a family heirloom didn't we? So, how long will it take for you to cast the spell?"

"Yeah! Get castin' already!" Yuffie exclaimed.

Grinning, Aeris said "I can't Yuff. Not here. It's like with Meteor, Holy takes too much power to summon just anywhere. Once Cloud's awake, I'll guide us all to a place the Cetra told me about, an old city called Knowlespole. It's built on top of the planet's largest lifestream nexus, so Holy will work from there…"

OOOOOOO

Cloud awoke several hours later, to the great surprise of the doctor who had expected him to be out for days. Tifa and Barrett tried to reason with him, tried to get answers out of him, but to no avail: Cloud wasn't talking. He barely even acknowledged that anything had happened. Aeris and I filled him in on the plan to go north and summon Holy, and he was in immediate agreement.

We stayed in Gongaga just long enough to purchase some warmer clothing for the northern climate and then we were off, travelling around the eastern end of Midgar's continent, within sight of the city, and curving to the north when we reached shallow waters that continued in that direction. As Midgar was vanishing below the horizon behind us, I heard a droning sound and looked up to see a large Shinra helicopter fly overhead, also going north and rapidly outpacing our seaplane. Tseng and Elena, on Ganthet's mission, though of course I only learned of this much later.

At the Bone Village excavation site, we were met by a number of workers who tried to slow us down. "Hold on now! You all don't wanna go that way!" They insisted. "That's the sleeping forest up there! It's enchanted, confuses the progress of anyone who goes in without a special harp!"

"We'll be okay." Aeris told them. "I'm Cetra. The forest will open itself for me, and those in my company as well." The men still wanted to stop us, but were intimidated by Barrett's gun and Cloud's sword. We pressed onward through the forest for about five miles before pressing through a final bramble of vines and branches and catching sight of the ancient city.

"Marvelous…" Red whispered. Everyone else was in awe as well.

Aeris looked up at the night sky. "Let's hurry. In order to do this, I'll need to go down below the city, and the path closes during the day…"

OOOOOOO

As we reached the entrance to the underground and started down the long, long crystal stairs I thought to Aeris "How are we handling this?"

"I'll ask everyone to wait for me at the base of the stairs. You wait a few minutes, then excuse yourself for, I don't know, something… get creative. Once you're out of sight, find a good place to move from and be ready."

"I guess that's the only option." I agreed.

When we reached the bottom, Aeris pointed to where she was going to be, the raised altar over the waters, and asked us all to wait. "You're gonna do it right now?" Yuffie asked.

Aeris nodded. "I think it's best. We don't know where Sephiroth is, and I'm unclear on whether Holy has to be cast before Meteor or not. There's no reason to wait, although…" She glance over to me. "Christian, come with me a moment…" I followed Aeris about halfway to the altar, just out of hearing range. "Please stop beating yourself up over it coming to this." She said.

"How can I not?" I answered. "Aeris, I've had a year to find a better way. A year! And yet, here we still are…"

"Maybe you didn't find a better way because there isn't one."

"That's a nice thought, but…"

"But nothing!" Aeris stomped her foot down. "Sephiroth was going to get the Black Materia one way or another. So I was going to have to come here for Holy, one way or another… What matters isn't what's happened so far, it's what happens next. I know… Christian, listen to me here… I _know_ that you are going to save me."

"You can't know that…"

Aeris interrupted, and I now understand was about to tell me about her encounter with Ganthet. "Yes I can know… Ganthet told me…" She stopped. Looked upwards suddenly. "He's here. Sephiroth. Go, get ready."

"But wait, what about Ganthet…?"

"No time now. Just remember hurt isn't dead."

"What?"

"I love you." She turned and rushed to the altar.

Feeling lower than I had ever felt before, I returned to the others, and waited for a few tense minutes before saying "I'll be right back."

"Aeris said to wait here." Tifa argued.

"I'm sure she'd make an exception for the call of nature… Unless you rather I just make a mess right here…"

"Oh gross!" Yuffie exclaimed. "Go!"

Travelling around beneath the crystal stairs, I found a path that led half-way to the opposite side of the area. A number of great marble columns stood here, and some of them were broken, allowing me to climb to an excellent vantage point on the highest one. I silently drew my sword, and activated the materia for Haste, Barrier, and Shell. Then I waited, looking down on both Aeris and the rest of our team.

After a time, Cloud began to move. I was too far away to hear what was being said, but it was clear that a tremendous argument was underway. Tifa and Vincent tried to restrain Cloud as he drew his sword and stood over Aeris, but he threw them off and held the blade high. Even from so far away, the struggle he was experiencing was apparent. Then he cast the blade aside and fell to his knees.

I looked up, and saw Sephiroth descending. His blade was at the ready, and I knew I would have to time this perfectly. Half a second before he reached my level, I jumped. Collided with the madman, who startled, looked at me with the first surprise I'd seen in his eyes. "What in hell!?" he demanded. "Fool, I cannot be stopped!" Down, down we fell towards where Aeris still knelt. I struggled, I pushed, I gave all that I had to give, but Sephiroth's trajectory could not be altered.

A though occurred to me, that I didn't need to change his trajectory, just the precise aim of the blade. Releasing Sephiroth, I grabbed the sharp sword in both hands. The edges cut through my skin but the Barrier spell lessened the damage and I tried to blank out the pain as a pushed hard against it. Sephiroth realized what I was doing and began to push back, but the mechanics of the situation gave me much better leverage than he had. Of course most of that was countered by his greater strength, but I managed half an inch of deflection. Then a full inch, two. I was throwing off his aim, but not by enough.

I shouted down for Aeris to move, and she began to do so, but it was too late. As we crashed to the ground, the blade went through her. Sephiroth roared in triumph and I fell to my knees, gathering Aeris up in my arms as Cloud and the others confronted the villain. I'm quite certain that Sephiroth must have gone through his entire monologue from the game, but I heard nothing. In fact, as I held onto Aeris, unaware that I had lessened her wound, convinced that I had failed and she was dead, I felt less and less, nothing but a coldness that pervaded my entire body, and then a blackness, and then nothing at all.

As Ganthet had informed Aeris, and later Tseng, whatever force was working against Ganthet's plans was making it's move. I was torn away from Gaia, back to my own world, through time apparently as well, since I awoke on the evening of the same day that Ganthet had first contacted me, a year before in my experience. Whoever or whatever was to blame for this also messed with my memories it seems, as I remembered nothing of these events for a very long time…

But, for now, I will finish this part of the tale with one more chapter, showing what I learned happened after my departure through the eyes of Yuffie, Tseng, and Aeris. Stay tuned for it next week!


	37. In The End Is The Beginning

Standard Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy, Green Lantern, or any of their related characters and concepts. This is a work of fan fiction.

"Courage To Change The Things You Can"

Chapter 37: "In The End Is The Beginning"

=== Begin Third-Person P.O.V: Tseng ===

Approaching from the north, Tseng and Elena arrived at Knowlespole just a few hours ahead of us. They explored quickly and located the entrance to the underground. By the time Avalanche arrived and descended the great crystal stairway the two Turks were already well concealed behind a low dividing wall on the far side from the entry.

"Just like we were told." Elena whispered.

"Yes… Though now I find myself torn. I'm going to go along with the plan but it doesn't quite sit right to stand by and allow something bad to happen when we're here and could stop it."

"Then why don't we write our own ending to this?"

Tseng sighed. Elena was smart, she had potential, but she so often missed the bigger picture. "Unlike the Guardian, we cannot see the future. This is about more than saving Aeris… It is about saving her in order to save us all. If allowing events to proceed unhindered is the only way to insure that…"

"…Then we go along no matter how much we hate it." Elena finished, seeing Tseng's point. "Alright… …Tseng?""

"Yes?"

"I have to ask, why are we trusting this Ganthet so readily? It's not really like us."

"No, it's not." Tseng admitted. "I'm calling it a calculated risk. If what he told us is true, then we need to go along with him. If he's lying, we need to be in a position to find that out. Either way, we should go with it for now."

Elena nodded. "Makes sense. So have you decided where we're going to take her?"

"Yes, in fact." Tseng replied. "There's only one place in the world where I would trust a hospital staff to not contact Shinra as soon as they found out who and what their patient is: Wutai."

"Long trip from here."

"We can stop at Icicle Lodge on the way if needed."

Satisfied with Tseng's answers, Elena said no more. Together, they watched as the events played out, Aeris praying on the altar, Cloud's breakdown, Sephiroth's attack and my attempts to stop him.

"When do we move?" Elena whispered.

"Be ready… We're supposed to go while everyone else is distracted."

Across the way, Sephiroth finished his gloating and flew away into the sky. A dark object fell, and exploded out into the second Jenova monster, which immediately took Avalanche's full attention. "I doubt we're going to get a better distraction than that." Tseng said. "Let's do this."

Moving swiftly and quietly, careful to avoid notice by either Avalanche or Jenova, the Turks slipped in and gently lifted Aeris, carrying her to an out of sight location. "She's unconscious." Elena said as they laid her down, "But I've got a faint pulse."

"The wound is serious." Tseng noted. "But it seems her protector did well, Sephiroth missed everything vital, though not by much." He cast Cure III twice. "Better… But I'm in no shape to cast much right now."

"Moving her further is risky." Elena said.

"Very risky. It can't be helped. Let's get out of here."

Working together, they cautiously carried Aeris the long way around behind where the battle was still raging and up the long stairway. The entire way up, Tseng feared that someone would look up and see them, but no one did and he sighed with relief at the top, then pulled out his phone and called for pickup. The helicopter came shortly afterwards.

"Wutai." Tseng told the pilot once they were aboard. "And make it fast…"

OOOOOOO

=== Begin Third-Person P.O.V: Yuffie ===

Ninja don't cry. Even regular ninja don't cry, so certainly that had to go double for the greatest ninja of all. At least, that's what Yuffie kept telling herself as she struggled against the tears that threatened to burst loose. It was a losing battle. The sad truth was that, for all of her bluster and determination, for all of her knowledge of the horrors of battle and how quickly things could go wrong, she had never expected it to happen to anyone on her side of things.

But now Aeris was on the ground, I had vanished in front of her very eyes, and another Jenova creature was on the loose, and seemingly stronger than the first one. In a funny way, she had to admit that the monster was doing her a favor by giving her something else to focus on. Drawing her giant shuriken, Yuffie considered summoning Leviathan again, but then thought otherwise. She needed to be active herself, not just standing back watching someone else fight for her. With a loud battle cry, she leapt into the fray…

OOOOOOO

Immediately after Jenova's second form was beaten, everyone rushed to where Aeris had been, but of course she was gone. "This is the right spot isn't it?" Yuffie asked. "I mean, look, it's gotta be the right spot, there's still blood on the ground."

"This is right… But where did she go?" Tifa asked.

"She cannot have gotten up and moved after such a wound." Vincent said.

Barrett agreed, "No. And besides, if she had there'd be a trail in the blood wouldn't there?"

"Not to mention, that Christian also vanished. Before our very eyes, in point of fact." Red said.

"Then what happened here?" Tifa asked.

Cloud looked over to Red. "Can you get a scent?" he asked.

"No… The blood scent is too strong to detect anything else."

"I guess…" Yuffie started to say, but stopped before saying anymore.

"You guess what lass?" Cait asked. "Don't be shy if you've got an idea."

"Well… It doesn't explain Christian disappearing, but maybe, I hate to say it, but maybe she wasn't just hurt… Maybe Aer died, and her body was taken into the lifestream. I mean, I know that's not how it works normally but she's half-Cetra. It could be different for them."

"Plausible." Red agreed, nodding.

"So what do we do?" Cid asked.

Cloud stood up straighter and said "Everyone… Please listen to me. I don't know what's going on with me. But it's obvious there's something. I should quit this journey, get away from you all, but I just can't do that now. Sephiroth has the power to destroy the planet, and we don't know if Aeris finished with Holy before… We need to keep moving."

Barrett objected. "But what about Aeris? And Christian? We got a mystery here Spiky, an' I don't like leavin' a mystery at our back."

Nodding, Cloud said "I understand. But there's nothing for us to do here. No way to solve this mystery." He turned and started to walk away, then stopped and looked to Red. "Still… Red, are you carrying one of Aer's old staffs?"

"Here." Red answered, producing a staff from his mystery storehouse.

Cloud took the staff and drove it into the ground upright. "There. If she's alive somehow, it's here for her. And if she's dead, as I think she must be, it's here as a grave marker." Cloud headed up the stairs, and the rest of the team followed…

OOOOOOO

=== Begin Third-Person P.O.V: Aeris ===

Aeris awoke for the first time some three weeks later. She recognized her surroundings as a hospital room, but was otherwise confused at first regarding how she had gotten there. It took until the following day for all of her memory to come back, and even then she would never remember the actual moment of the attack. Doctors and nurses came and went, and she learned from them how long she had been in their care, but not who had delivered her there.

"I'm sorry miss, but I'm not at liberty to say who bought you in." A plump elderly nurse answered when Aeris asked after it.

"Alright… You say three weeks I've been here?"

"Yes ma'am. And let me tell you, you're lucky to have been here at all. Whatever you ran into, it missed your heart by half an inch and a major artery to the other side by a quarter-inch. I know you've gotta be hurtin' still, but count your blessings dear."

"I am." Aeris smiled weakly. While the nurse went about taking readings from the various machines, Aeris focused her mind and tried to feel the planet's thoughts. Holy was active, that she could tell, but there was no sense of anything else. "Nurse?" She asked, "Has anything else big happened while I've been out?"

"Big like what dear?"

"Oh, I don't know… Big monsters running around, giant meteors in the sky?"

The nurse gave her a funny look, but said "You're still out of it aren't you? No worries, nothing like that I'm happy to say." Finishing her work, the nurse excused herself and left.

Alone, Aeris took the time to think. "Three weeks, no meteor yet… It can't be much longer though… I hope everyone's still okay. Nothing I can do about that for now though. As much as I hate it, the only thing I can do anything about right now is myself. The sooner I'm well, the sooner I'll be able to go to Christian. Maybe together we can do something…" She drifted back to sleep.

OOOOOOO

Over the next few weeks, Aeris gradually improved. The medical staff moved her to a private room, and started physical therapy soon after. Though keeping busy, she was still worried about everyone, plus distracted by the mystery of why Meteor still hadn't appeared.

Then, in the middle of the night some three months after Knowlespole, Aeris awoke suddenly. Something was terribly wrong. The voice of the Planet was screaming loudly, the lifestream in turmoil. Throwing off her covers, Aeris rushed to the nearest window as quickly as she could manage and flung open the curtains. The usually black night-sky shimmered with crimson light, and high over the southern horizon she could just make out the dark form of the gigantic space rock now approaching Gaia.

"Holy…." She swore softly. "How is anything I did supposed to stop _that_?"

From behind, Aeris heard an unexpected answer; "All you did was, so to speak, 'uncork the bottle.' Gaia and I will handle the rest."

Aeris turned to face the speaker. "Lady Minerva."

"Greetings once more, Daughter of Ifalna." Minerva replied. "I come bearing news. Your recovery is complete enough to leave this place. And none to soon. Sephiroth has learned, somehow, that you yet live. Even now one of his clones comes to rectify the situation."

"What do we do?" Aeris asked.

"You must go to where you will be safe. As for the people here, they'll be safe enough once he senses you've gone. As for where you must go, I can think of no better choice than to reunite you with your husband."

But he's on his own world again, right? And Ganthet said his memory would be messed up…"

"Yes." Minerva nodded. "You will need to help him…" Reaching under her cape, Minerva produced a long cylinder. "I bring you a gift. This is the Heart of Gaia." Minerva pressed a trigger on the cylinder, which suddenly expanded into a six foot long staff. Two materia crystals shone in the weapon's many slots. One was a green gem Aeris didn't recognize. The other…

"Is that the White Materia!?" Aeris exclaimed. "I thought it was lost!"

"I recovered it. It can safely go with you, it's presence on Gaia is not needed now that Holy is active. And the nature of the Heart is such that you will be able to channel the White Materia's power for minor light-elemental spells."

"Minerva, thank you…" Aeris said, reaching out to take the staff. "Although, how will I get to Christian's world?"

"The second gem is a Transit Materia. It's power will take you to whatever world you need to reach. Now time is short, so let me finish your instruction so that you can be on your way…"

OOOOOOO

Author's Notes: This marks the end of this chapter, but not the story. Aeris and Christian are reunited in the short story 'Stranger Highways.' It's already published, though in a couple of weeks I'll be releasing an expanded and updated version that takes some things from this story into account better than the original does. After that, they'll be returning to Gaia for the second half of the adventure in the upcoming tale "Insert Disk Two." Look for it soon!


End file.
